1. Tickets – General admission tickets are $7.00 per session (Wednesday - 1st Session on Friday). For the 2nd Session on Friday (Class A Championship Games), general admission tickets will be $10.00. On Saturday (Class AA Championship Games), there will be one session and general admission tickets are $10.00. There are no passes out during any session. The gym will be cleared between the morning and the evening session (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).
2. Media – All media should contact Matt Gillespie at the TSSAA office phone number (615-889-6740) or fax number (615-889-0544) to request press credentials. This applies to both print media and electronic media. Tape delay television is permitted at a fee of $200.00, provided the tape delay is a minimum of 24 hours following the game.

The TSSAA Board of Control must approve permission for live telecast at any State Basketball Tournament game. Permission to tape a State Basketball Tournament game for replay the next day may be granted by the game director, provided the game director has space to accommodate the television or cable station. Before taping will be allowed, the station must pay the game director a fee of $200.00, which is considered a part of the game receipts.

3. Parking– All team buses will park at the loading dock at the South end of the Allen Arena, located off of Granny White Pike. Buses must be moved after each session.
   Additional vehicles may park in the surface lot located on Belmont Blvd. between the soccer field and the softball field. There will be a $5 fee for evening and Saturday parking. Additional vehicles may park at various lots in the Lipscomb Campus.
4. Team Entrance – The teams that are participating in a particular session will enter the Allen Arena at the loading dock located at the South end of the arena. This area can be accessed off of Granny White Pike.

Sixteen cheerleaders will be admitted free. This includes 16 cheerleaders in uniform and one mascot.

For teams and their cheerleaders in the tournament that are not participating in that session, please enter at the main entrance to the Arena on the North end.

5. Tournament Passes and Complimentary Tickets – All teams participating in the State Basketball Tournament will receive 25 passes for their official team party. These passes are for players, coaches, managers, medical personnel, bus driver, cheer coach, etc. In addition, each school will receive 15 complimentary tickets for the tournament session in which they are participating and will be given to the principal, athletic director, or coach. Please remember that everyone must have a ticket or a punch pass in order to enter the facility.

All teams who win their first game will be given the 15 complimentary passes for their next game immediately following the contest in which they participate and win.

ALL TEAMS PARTICIPATING IN THE STATE TOURNAMENT WILL RECEIVE A PACKET FROM THE SUB-STATE GAME DIRECTOR THAT WILL CONTAIN THE 25 TEAM PARTY PASSES, THE 15 COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS FOR THE FIRST SESSION IN WHICH YOU WILL PLAY, AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION.

6. Line-up Sheets – Please click here for line-up sheets that must be completed and turned in at the team entrance gate when you arrive at the tournament site. Please make enough copies for use in all games in the tournament. List all players in numerical order. The starters should be listed first, followed by the non-starters.

The line-up sheet must be turned in at the team entrance gate at the time of arrival.

7. Dressing Rooms – Upon entering the Allen Arena at the team entrance gate at the loading dock at the southeast corner, you will be taken to your dressing room.  Even though your dressing room will be locked, we would strongly advise all valuables to be kept in a valuable bag and nothing left in the locker rooms that is of any value to participants or coaches.
8. Floor Passes – Upon entering at the southeast corner on the lower level at the team entrance area, you will be given floor passes for anyone who is on your bench who is not in uniform. All coaches, managers, medical personnel, statisticians, etc. must have a floor pass in order to move through the halls from the locker room to the playing area and vice versa. These floor passes are good during your game only and are not tickets for admission. They will allow you only to move through the back halls.
9. Bench Area – There will be 16 chairs on each bench. Fifteen players may dress for the game. Chairs in the bench area are for the following only: players not participating, coaches who are full-time employees of your local board of education or are non-faculty coaches who are registered with TSSAA, students who are serving as managers or statisticians, and medical personnel. No one else will be allowed in your bench area unless there has been prior approval by Mr. Gene Beck or Mr. Bernard Childress of our staff. There will be one additional seat at the scorer's table for your scorekeeper.

Water will be provided at each bench. However, you should bring your own towels for the bench area and also for use in the dressing room.

10. Team Bench Location and Brackets – The top team in each bracket is the home team and will wear white jerseys. The team designated as the home team will sit on the north bench and the team designated as visitor (bottom team in bracket) will sit on the south bench and wear dark jerseys. As you stand at mid-court and face the scorer’s table, the home team bench will be on the right the visiting team bench will be on the left. The game ball for the Girls State Basketball Tournament is the Wilson BO586 (Evolution) and the game ball for the Boys State Basketball Tournament is the Wilson BO516 (Evolution). Teams qualifying for the finals will receive a game ball from the state tournament.
11. Starting Times and Warm-ups – Please refer to the tournament bracket (Boys and Girls), which gives you the starting times for each game. No game will start earlier than the posted starting time.

Teams participating in the first game of each session may come on the floor no earlier than 30 minutes prior to the starting time. Each team is guaranteed a minimum of 15 minutes warm-up time.

Balls for warm-ups will be furnished. Only the two teams participating in a game may warm up prior to the game or at half-time of that game.

There is no warm-up in the auxiliary gyms at the Allen Arena.

12. Game Administrator’s Meeting, National Anthem, Starting Line-ups – Prior to the starting time, there will be a game administrator’s meeting at the mid-court area with both head coaches, referee, head of security, and the game administrator. The game administrator will be responsible for the meeting. At five minutes prior to the starting time, the teams will go to the bench area and there will be the National Anthem and introduction of starting line-ups.

The National Anthem will be sung or played prior to the beginning of each session. In the championship games, the National Anthem will be sung or played prior to each game.

In all first-round games, all players will be introduced. Substitutes will be introduced first and they are asked to go to the free throw line. Following the introduction of the substitutes from both teams, the starters will be introduced on an alternating basis. Each starter is asked to go to the mid-court area where they will shake hands with the starter that is introduced from the other team. Both starters will then go to the free throw line. Following the introduction of starters, the head coaches will be introduced. They are asked to meet in front of the scorer’s table, shake hands, and then return to their team huddles.

In the semifinals and finals we will follow the same procedure, with the exception that the substitutes will not be introduced.

13. Items Not Permitted at the State Basketball Tournament –

• Noisemakers (examples are, but not limited to, air horns, cowbells, sirens, clackers, jugs or milk cartons with rocks or pennies, etc.)
• Balloons
• Confetti
• Electrical instruments
• Thundersticks
• Large signs or large flags (There is very limited space in the Allen Arena for signs to be hung. The major area for the signs is at the top of the bleachers on the upper level. Signs may not be hung in any area that would interfere with the view of fans.

14. Cheerleaders – Sixteen cheerleaders, in uniform, will be admitted at no charge at the players’ pass gate at sessions in which your team is playing. This is located on the loading dock at the South end of the Arena, off of Granny White Pike. Only 12 cheerleaders and one mascot may cheer on the floor. The cheer coach should have a ticket, either provided from the 25 pass tickets for the official team party or 15 complimentary tickets for sessions in which the team is playing.

The cheer coach and all cheerleaders are reminded that we expect them to set a positive tone for their cheering sections. A member of the TSSAA staff will meet with the cheerleaders and cheer coach prior to the start of their first game in the tournament.

If you wish to bring signs to be hung, you are reminded that there is a limited amount of space in the gymnasium for signs to be hung. They should be at the top of the bleachers on the concourse area and should, also, be taken down after every game. All signs should be of a positive nature.

In the cheering sections there can be no large hand-held signs or large flags, no confetti, no miniature basketballs to be thrown out, and no noisemakers.

The cheer coach and cheerleaders are reminded that a sportsmanship award will be given to the cheer squad that displays outstanding leadership during the tournament. This award is based primarily on the leadership given by the cheer squad, but also reflects the atmosphere as set by the coach, players, and fans.

15. Pep Bands – Pep bands are permitted and are encouraged to attend. Each member of the band must purchase a ticket and a faculty representative must be present with the band. The band may play prior to the game, during time-outs, and between quarters. Electrical instruments may not be used.

The tournament director will designate the seating location for pep bands.

16. Videotaping – Each school will be allowed to have one representative tape during their game only. Video cameras on tripods may be set up on the East concourse in designated areas only. No tripods will be allowed in the stands or on the playing floor.

17. Press Area after Game – Immediately following the game and congratulations to the opposing teams and coaches, please proceed immediately to your dressing room. This is a very critical time for coaches and their players to be together. We inform all radio stations that interviews will not be granted immediately following games at press row. After approximately four to five minutes, a member of our staff will bring you and the players requested to the media room. A member of our staff will notify you, as you leave the floor, of the players that have been requested by the media. In addition, you may bring any other players that you desire to the interview area.

Please recognize that this is a very important time in the educational process for all the student-athletes involved in our program, regardless of whether the team wins or loses. We ask all coaches to be aware that each coach will receive only a small amount of quotes in the morning papers, on radio, and on television. Please use the opportunity to say something positive about your student-athletes, your program, and high school basketball in the state of Tennessee.

We request that you wait until you get to the press area before granting any interviews. All media have been informed of this policy.

18. Sports Medicine – The Baptist Hospital Sports Medicine staff will be present at all games and will be of assistance to you prior to the game. If you need players taped or wrapped, please bring the necessary tape or wrap.
19. Practice – There shall be no practice at the Allen Arena prior to or during the State Basketball Tournament. There is to be no warm-up in auxiliary gyms at the Allen Arena.
20. Hospitality Suites – The hospitality suite is located in the Hall of Fame Room overlooking the Arena. It is at the main entrance on the North end of the arena. Each school will be allowed access for 8 administrators or coaches to the hospitality suite. Access for 12 administrators or coaches will be allowed for schools with both a boys and girls team participating in the tournament. NO CHILDREN WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE HOSPITALITY SUITE.
    The hospitality list must be turned in at the team entrance gate upon arrival. Those people not on the approved hospitality list will not be admitted to the suite.
21. Contact Information – Please refer to the map of the Lipscomb University campus along with driving directions to campus. For questions concerning the Allen Arena, directions to the facility, and parking, you may contact Janet Grimes, Assistant at (615) 966-7072 or janet.grimes@lipscomb.edu or Trish Stapp, Arena Manager at (615) 966-6670 or trish.stapp@lipscomb.edu.