By Alyssa Whitney

Hundreds of hopefuls will arrive at North Carolina State University to duke it out.

With a year’s worth of bragging rights on the line, anticipation is rising for those teams registered for this year’s NIRSA Championship Series National Basketball Championship.

Will the champion be the powerhouse team with lots of senior leadership or will we see the underdogs pull through and write their own Cinderella story?

Join us April 11-13 in Raleigh, or follow online, to find out.

The four divisions featured in this year’s tournament include Men’s Club, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Club, and Women’s Intramural. After a great turnout of 297 teams between the 10 regionals, the Basketball Work Team is currently working to solidify bids and stipends for the teams who will play at the National tournament. “Congratulations to all of the regionals on the great work in 2014 and good luck to those winning teams at NC State in April,” says John Washo of DePaul University and Chair of Basketball Work Team.

North Carolina State University is ready to host an incredible championship competition April 11-13.

More than just a game, the tournament gives participants, officials, and staff alike the chance to develop. “The NIRSA National Basketball Tournament gives everyone involved an opportunity to learn,” says Tournament Officials Committee Chair, Jen Rezac. “You can be assured after working with this tournament you will have a true sense of accomplishment and will have achieved the ultimate in professional development whether you are a student official, a professional officials committee member, or working with the all-tournament committee staff.”

David Gaskins of East Carolina University and Co-Director of Officials also commented on the development of student officials, saying, “We incorporate an intense pre-tournament training workshop with nationally-recognized speakers, elite clinicians across multiple levels of basketball officiating, written and verbal evaluations during every game, and videotape breakdowns within the learning laboratory of quality hoops competition. Past speakers and guest clinicians have included NBA Officials Ed Rush, George Toliver, Joe DeRosa, and Joe Forte along with numerous collegiate supervisors and high-level collegiate and pro officials.”

With the surge of social media, even those unable to attend can follow the action. “Social Media allows us to quickly connect with fans of our tournament teams who are spread across the country,” says David Peters, Director of Social Media at the 2014 NIRSA Basketball Championships. Tournament staff will provide live updates and photos via Twitter and Instagram throughout the weekend from @NIRSAChamp using the hashtag #NIRSABBall. Follow along and be part of the excitement! In addition, archives of game recaps and photos for participants to view during and after the event can be found on the tournament website.