House of ‘Paign captured the attention of Illinois basketball fans this summer in its run to the quarterfinals in The Basketball Tournament. The tournament itself, of course, captured the attention of sports fans across the country in July as the only sporting event happening.
Illini basketball fans followed along as alums like Malcolm Hill and Andres Feliz teamed up for the first time ever and former star South Dakota State Mike Daum — a TBT “grad transfer” — led the way. House of ‘Paign knocked off War Tampa and then reigning champions Carmen’s Crew before falling to Red Scare in the quarterfinals.
The interest in House of ‘Paign has continued. The official TBT Twitter account has mentioned Champaign as a possible regional site in 2021 multiple times if the pandemic has cleared enough that a solitary basketball bubble won’t be necessary.
Full disclosure, I’ve championed that cause repeatedly. For one, I’m pretty certain Illinois basketball fans will show up, and if it’s anything like the IHSA state tournament (also now back in Champaign), the casual basketball fan in Illinois will also show up. Secondly, it would be a very short drive for me to State Farm Center.
Now, there’s even House of ‘Paign merchandise. The following remains strong.