The Arizona Interscholastic Association is planning to use USA Basketball’s future headquarters in Tempe as the permanent postseason home for almost every indoor sport the AIA governs.

USA Basketball made its announcement Wednesday about moving in 2015 to a new mixed-use development planned for Tempe called USA Place, where its 4,500-seat event center will open. Scheduling its indoor postseason games at one location finally gives the AIA and its member schools the playoff scheduling flexibility they have long sought.

Using the event center at USA Place will also help the AIA cut its postseason costs since it won’t have to rent some of Arizona’s largest indoor facilities as much as it does now.

“We’re very excited to have a permanent home where we can host our events,” said Chuck Schmidt, the AIA’s associate executive director.  “The size and seating capacity of the venue is a great fit for us, and being able to share a home court with USA Basketball will be a remarkable experience for our kids. It also meets many other of our criteria, including being centrally located with easy access to light rail and more than 30 hotels, which is important to our member schools outside the Phoenix metro area. It also presents us with an opportunity to develop and increase revenue streams, enabling us to provide enhanced programming and services." 

Schmidt added that the rental terms between the AIA and USA Place are in the process of being finalized.

When the AIA starts using the Tempe events center, it’ll likely become the first high school sports state association in the nation that’ll host playoff games at one centralized location. The future playoff home for the AIA should be ready to use by the fall of 2015. 

Besides using it for playoff games, the AIA also is planning to host Game of the Week type of events and to train officials at the Tempe site. Since some of the AIA’s playoff events attract large crowds, the AIA will continue to use some of the indoor venues it currently rents.

Situated on 10.5 acres on the corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive, USA Place will consist of USA Basketball’s headquarters, the event center, which includes five full sized basketball courts and two half courts, a 330-room Omni Hotel, 30,000 square foot conference center, 500 luxury apartments, and retail and office space. Since the early 2000s, Schmidt and one of the executives of USA Place, Rob Harris, began working together when Harris was a vice president for the Phoenix Suns and the AIA used US Airways Center to host playoff basketball games.

“Working with Rob and his team from USA Place has been a great experience and a valued partnership,” Schmidt said. “We look forward to bringing numerous state tournament and championship events to the new facility in Tempe.”