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March 9th - 12th, 2023
Scotiabank Centre, Halifax Nova Scotia
8 Teams | 11 Games | 1 Champion.
St. Francis Xavier University (STFX) and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic (S|E|A) are pleased to announce the U SPORTS FINAL 8 Men’s Basketball Championship at Scotiabank Centre from March 10-12, 2023. Basketball fans in the region will once again have the opportunity to cheer on the eight (8) best university basketball teams in Canada. This will be the 36th time the FINAL 8 Championship has been hosted in Halifax, dating back to 1965. This 2023 Championship reinstates the 2021 tournament, cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. STFX will be the HOST school, with one (1) other Atlantic University Sport (AUS) school also competing in the national championship.
The Championship format features 11 games, comprised of eight (8) championship games and three (3) consolation games. All games are played in a double-header format except the championship game on Sunday, March 12. The competition begins with the first doubleheader on Friday, March 10 at 12:00 pm. The host STFX X-Men will take to the court in the evening doubleheader Friday, March 10 at 6:00 pm.
All Ticket Sales are subject to Ticket Atlantic Fees. Purchases can be made by phone at (902) 451-1221, or online at TicketAtlantic.com
In conjunction with the Championship, STFX Athletics and S|E|A are pleased to announce that long-time STFX coach Steve ‘Coach K’ Konchalski will serve as the Honourary Chair of the event. Coach K retired in March, 2021 after serving 46 seasons as X-Men Basketball head coach. The winningest men’s basketball coach in Canadian university sport history, he won three national championships and nine AUS conference championships during his time at STFX. The 2001 U SPORTS Coach of the Year, he was honoured on six occasions as AUS Coach of the Year, leading the X-Men to 18 U SPORTS championship appearances and 42 AUS playoff appearances as he retired with 919 career wins and a .615 win percentage.
Coach K also served as head coach of Team Canada for four years (1995-98) and was an assistant coach for 16 years prior. Coaching in three Olympic Games, Steve has been a member of Canada Basketball’s Counsel of Excellence since 2009. He was a member of coaching staff of the Canadian U19 team that won the 2017 World Championship in Cairo, Egypt and is currently a Senior Advisor of Basketball Operations with the Newfoundland Growlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
Final 8 is Back Home in Halifax.