Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship

The Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring in the United States.

In 1972, the tournament was divided into two divisions based on school size, (A and AA), each producing a separate champion.

The Illinois High School Basketball Championship was the first tournament to be called 'March Madness'.

The state tournament in each class is composed of the four super-sectional winners, and are randomly assigned to play each other in the semifinal round.

On the Friday of the state tournament, the 8 winners were randomly assigned to play each other in a quarterfinal game.

The slam dunk contest has no preliminaries prior to the Thursday competition of the week of the state finals.

[22] Since 1996, in addition to the on court activities, the IHSA has set up an interactive event at the Peoria Civic Center called the March Madness Experience.

Set up in the 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) Exhibit Hall, the "Experience" includes interactive games and skill challenges for fans to participate in.

Among the notable members of the "Legends" team were Kenny Battle, Lou Boudreau, Jim Brewer, Quinn Buckner, Landon "Sonny" Cox, Bruce Douglas, Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, LaPhonso Ellis, Melvin Ely, Michael Finley, C. J. Kupec, Marcus Liberty, Shaun Livingston, Cuonzo Martin, Johnny Orr, Andy Phillip, Quentin Richardson, Dave Robisch, Cazzie Russell, Jon Scheyer, Jack Sikma, Isiah Thomas, Frank Williams, and George Wilson.

The title game resulted in a victory for Chicago's Hales Franciscan High School over Winnebago.

[28] In November, 2005, the IHSA announced that it was suspending Hales Franciscan's membership in the Association, when it was learned that the school's Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recognition had been lapsed in June, 2003.

[29][30] In January, 2006, the IHSA announced that due to the lack of recognition (ISBE), Hales Franciscan would forfeit all athletic contests played between June, 2003 and December, 2005, including its 2005 State Championship.

[31] Also see John Pruett (Illinois High School Career Field Goal Percentage Champion)