Basketball

Basketball in Columbus

Home to the 2018 and 2027 Women's Final Four, and seven-time men's March Madness host, Columbus is rich in hoops history.

NCAA Women’s Final Four

Two overtime thrillers and a buzzer-beater decided the 2018 Final Four. We're running it back in 2027.

NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Championship

Columbus hosted the top four DIII teams and WBCA All-Stars for three days at Capital University.

Men's March Madness

Nationwide Arena will host Men's March Madness for the seventh time in 2028.

The Basketball Tournament

In 2020, TBT brought 24 teams to Columbus for the first ‘bubble’ sports event during the pandemic.

Fast Facts

Columbus hosts the NCAA Women's Final Four in 2027. The 2018 Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena featured sold out crowds and buzzer beaters.
Columbus native Georgeann Wells became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA game when she did it for West Virginia University in 1984.
The city of Columbus is home to 20 NBA players over the league’s history. Of those 20, seven stayed in Columbus to play collegiately at Ohio State University. Three Columbus-born players have played in the WNBA.
Nationwide Arena has hosed Men's March Madness six times (2023 most recently, and 2028 will be number seven) and St. John Arena has hosted once (in 1957).
Columbus has the third-most boys participants in high school boys & girls basketball despite being the seventh-largest state.
Capital University, in Bexley, Ohio on Columbus’ east side, is home of back-to-back national championships for NCAA Division III women’s basketball. The first time the feat was accomplished.

The team started play in 1965, coached by women’s sports pioneer Phyliss Bailey. Two of the top 10 winningest coaches in NCAA women's basketball history coached the Buckeyes – Tara VanDerveer and Jim Foster.

Ohio State Men’s Basketball

The Buckeyes have made 11 Final Fours and won the NCAA Championship in 1960. Notable players include Jim Jackson, Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Greg Oden, D’Angelo Russell, Scoonie Penn, Michael Redd Evan Turner and Mike Conley, Jr.

Columbus Quest

Although the league only lasted two and a half years, the women’s pro team won the only two league titles, led by Central Ohioan Katie Smith. Many stars from the Quest moved to the WNBA after the league folded in Dec. 1998.

Columbus Condors

If you want a taste of professional basketball, the Columbus Condors are your team. The Condors play just outside of the city, in Westerville. Since 2016, the Condors compete against other teams from across the country in The Basketball League.