The Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s boys state basketball tournament will returning to Lafayette and the Cajundome in March 2027 for the first time since 2022.
However, unlike four years ago, the Cajundome — for the first time since 2011 — will host semifinals and finals games for select and non-select brackets.
“Moving Marsh Madness back to the Cajundome marks an exciting new chapter for our boys basketball state championships and reinforces our commitment to delivering a premier experience for student-athletes, schools and fans across Louisiana,” LHSAA Assistant Executive Director and Director of Basketball Karen Hoyt said in a release.
St. Thomas More head boys basketball coach Danny Broussard was thrilled when he heard the news.
“I’ve been to the Top 28 when it was in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles,” he said. “Nothing against Burton Coliseum, it’s just that Lafayette is Lafayette. It’s the best location and it has the best facility. It’s on I-49 and I-10 connector, so it is best for fans around the state.”
Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission President and CEO Ben Berthelot projects the economic impact for the area will be $4.1 million over a span of six days. In addition, Berthelot projects $134,309 will be generated in local taxes with a direct economic impact of about $2.5 million.
“People are excited,” Berthelot said. “My phone has been blowing up. There’s obviously a lot of history there, a lot of pride in the event over the years that we hosted it here, and I think it really helped to set the standard of what it should be like to host an LHSAA event.”
In 2021, Berthelot said he wanted to use the state volleyball championships “to show the type of event they can put on in hopes of hosting (the state basketball tournament) in the future.”
Berthelot believes the success of the volleyball tournament as well as the area’s prior history with hosting the boys state basketball tournament were instrumental in helping secure the event this year.
“I think there was mutual interest between us and the LHSAA (to bring the event back to Lafayette),” Berthelot said. “I think certainly having the volleyball state championships have helped to see what a major athletic event looks like in the Cajundome. It’d be hard to argue that the Cajundome is not the finest facility in the state when it comes to the ability to host this event.
"I believe the LHSAA has the opportunity to maximize the most ticket sales and the most revenue for their organization by having it in Lafayette. If you look at the attendance figures and the record attendance over the years, the majority of those were held in Lafayette.”
Northwest boys basketball coach Mark Cassimere, who played in the Top 28 in the Cajundome when the Raiders reached the state semifinals in 2004, was happy to hear the tourney was coming back to the Acadiana area.
“Welcome home!” Cassimere shouted. “I’m very excited that the tournament is coming back a little closer to home. I think having it in Lafayette is just more centralized for everybody. I like that it is closer to home, and hopefully we can have the whole city of Opelousas in there.”
Having more fans — most notably the student body — in attendance is something Broussard expects to increase with the event being in Lafayette.
“If we can get there, you’re going to be looking at some great crowds from the Cougar fans,” Broussard said. “But I’m excited for the city of Lafayette as well, because when it was here, we had a lot of fans that were just basketball fans in Lafayette who are going to go to the event whether we are there or not. It’s special.”