A bid to bring the boys state high school basketball tournament back to Champaign-Urbana included a $750,000 financial commitment from area donors and communities, discounts on hotel rates and a new slogan: “Legends Play Here.”
While enticing, the five-year proposal fell short, partly because officials had no real incentive to move out of Peoria and partly because that city’s undisclosed bid was more lucrative, an IHSA official said Friday.
“There was a significant difference between the bids, both financially and in what they were able to offer,” said IHSA board member Scott Adreon, principal at Maroa-Forsyth High School.