EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Just ahead of the NCAA Division II men’s basketball Elite Eight at Ford Center, excitement brews for a week of postseason basketball play, especially inside the DoubleTree hotel across the street from Ford Center where all eight teams are staying this week.
We’re all super, super excited. As you can see when you walk in, we’ve got all of the decals on the floor, on the doorways, when you come in the elevators,” DoubleTree Director of Sales Kendra Hines says. “We’ve got a big bracket at the front. The staff is super excited. We talk about it every morning at our huddle — who do we think is going to advance? But, of course, we don’t say anything about it.”
Eyewitness News is told most of the rooms are booked through Sunday to accommodate the teams, staff and fans.
Just a few of the fans coming to town are Kevin and Bonnie McDermott from Palatine, Illinois, just outside Chicago.
They have come to follow the Ferris State Bulldogs — the team Kevin serves as a volunteer athletics photographer.
The McDermotts even traveled with the team when the Bulldogs won the national championship in 2018 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
But how has Evansville treated them since checking-in on Saturday?
“I’ve explored the downtown a bit, and I think it’s just really quaint and it’s nice,” Bonnie says. “So many things are close together.
“She found the cat café, so she’s just delirious. Couldn’t wait to tell me that,” Kevin says.
Inside Ford Center between practices, Eyewitness News heard from coaches who tell us they’re excited as well.
North Georgia Nighthawks Head Coach Dan Evans says it’s nice to be in a state so committed to basketball.
“It’s been sort of really cool to be back in the Midwest and to be in a place that values college basketball at such a level,” Coach Evans says. “And this event is really important to our entire division.”
The Gannon Golden Knights and the Cal State, San Bernardino Coyotes tip off at noon on Tuesday.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., the Elite Eight tournament reaches its finale with the national championship game.
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