Iowa Championships

2024 Iowa Youth Basketball State Championships

The Pacesetter Great Five-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis in the summer of 2024 will be open to teams qualifying from MN-WI-IA-ND-SD. Pacesetter will not be conducting playoffs in each state in 2024.

Each bracket for boys and girls in grades 4-9 will be an 8-team bracket with 1-2 teams from each state invited. Teams play 3 games in 1-2 days and also attend a MN Lynx game. ALL teams are guaranteed to play one game on the main Target Center floor in the 20,000+ seat arena that is host to the home floor of the MN Timberwolves and MN Lynx. The main court games have a game announcer that often gives “play-by-play” accounts. The Target Center sound system also plays during the introductions of every player and coach for an exciting fantasy experience for players, coaches and fans. Some teams played all three games on the main court in 2023.

There will be two methods of qualifying:

1) By direct invitation from Pacesetter Director Jeff McCarron. Any teams interested in receiving a direct invitation may email Jeff at jmac8144@yahoo.com.

2) Through qualifying at in-state tournaments in WI-IA-ND-SD. Pacesetter will be collaborating with a number of the larger tournaments in these states to invite top teams to play. 1-2 teams from each state will be accepted. The qualifying tournaments will be announced on this page when determined.

Hometown Team Guidelines-Eligibility:

•  All players on a team must either be enrolled in the same school, live, or attend school in the same city,
  the same school system, or the same tribal community. Smaller school teams may combine, however, to form one team if the combined enrollment of these schools for grades 9-12 is 400 or fewer. Teams that combine should be from neighboring schools. (See Frequently Asked Questions for all details.)
• All rosters must be submitted before teams will be placed in the tournament bracket. A copy of your roster also needs to be turned in at each tournament.
• Every player must fill out an online player waiver form before their first tournament of the season in order to be eligible to participate.