After 15 seasons of welcoming Division III basketball teams from across the country to play in the D3hoops.com Classic between Christmas and New Year’s in Las Vegas, Nevada, the tournament is being retooled and folded into a larger set of events.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches is launching a Division III men’s basketball tournament series in 2026-27, with events taking place in Las Vegas and San Antonio. The NABC Division III Tournament — Las Vegas presented by D3hoops.com will take place Dec. 21 and 22. Another tournament in the series, The NABC Division III Tournament — San Antonio, will take place Jan. 1-2, 2027, at Trinity University.
“A core element of the NABC’s mission is to advance the game of basketball across all levels of the sport,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “The NABC Division III Tournaments will provide players, coaches and fans alike with a first-class event experience while introducing a series of marquee cross-region matchups to the D-III men’s basketball landscape.”
“We have had a long basketball tournament history in Las Vegas with the D3hoops.com Classic,” said Patrick Coleman, Executive Editor of D3hoops.com, “and we are excited for the evolution of this event. We will miss our huge event and our relationship with Sport Tours International, but are glad to be part of this landmark event at the Division III level organized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.”
Both NABC Division III Tournaments will feature eight Division III men’s basketball programs arranged in two four-team brackets. Each participating team will be guaranteed two games – a semifinal matchup, followed by either the championship game or consolation game.
The specific site in Las Vegas will be announced at a later date, as will the pairings for both tournaments, but the participating teams are locked in. Teams set to compete in Las Vegas are Chicago, Elmhurst, Emory, Keene State, Randolph-Macon, Redlands, Trine and Wabash. Programs participating in San Antonio include: Clarkson, Hardin-Simmons, Johns Hopkins, Trinity (Texas), Wheaton (Ill.), Williams, WPI and WashU.
“Five of the eight teams coming to Las Vegas have participated in the Division III men’s basketball Final Four in the last five seasons, with two of them national champions and two runners-up,” Coleman said. “We at D3hoops.com are super excited to have such a great field with so many successful programs taking part in this event.”
Sport Tours International will continue to conduct an annual tournament for men’s and women’s basketball in Las Vegas at the end of December.
Dave McHugh, Patrick Coleman and Ryan Scott of D3hoops.com, along with Bob Quillman of the Q-Cast and Matt Snyder of D3 Datacast got together to react to the news and the teams involved. Watch below -- video goes live at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 24.