(Updated March 12: The TSSAA has suspended the remaining games in this year’s girls’ high school basketball tournament and the scheduled March 18-21 boys’ high school basketball tournament, held at MTSU’s Murphy Center, due to coronavirus precautions and in line with decisions made by other athletic event coordinators. For more details, visit www.tssaa.org or call 615-889-6740. Learn more about MTSU’s campus plans here.)

It’s TSSAA high school basketball tournament time in Middle Tennessee, and MTSU once again is making temporary parking and traffic changes to accommodate its guests and neighbors.

The TSSAA Division I High School Basketball Tournaments are set March 11-14 for the girls and March 18-21 for the boys inside Murphy Center’s Hale/Earle Arena on the northwest corner of the MTSU campus.

As a result, motorists traveling around and on campus should be aware of several factors affecting MTSU roads and parking.

• MTSU’s East Main Street and Rutherford Boulevard entrances will be the most convenient campus entry points during the tournaments, university officials said. The traffic gate on Old Main Circle at the east side of the Cope Administration Building will be open for both tournaments for access to the Midgett Parking Lot and Old Main Circle.

• The Greenland Drive parking lot will be reserved for TSSAA ticket holders during both tournaments, and vehicles must pay $5 to park there. Students and faculty who use the Greenland Drive lot should prepare now to find alternative parking on campus, including the Tennessee Livestock Pavilion lot off Greenland Drive and the Rutherford Boulevard and MTSU parking lots.

• Faulkinberry Drive and Normal Way will be closed during both tournaments to accommodate TSSAA team buses. No parking or street access will be available.

University officials are encouraging motorists to allow extra time to reach their destinations while passing by or traveling to campus because of tournament traffic congestion. Campus motorists also should use the university’s perimeter parking lots and the Raider Xpress shuttle service during the tournaments.

MTSU mascot Lightning strides across East Main Street in this file photo. Lightning and the rest of the university will be welcoming the 2020 TSSAA high school basketball tournaments to campus March 10-14 and March 18-21. (MTSU file photo by Kimi Conro/photo illustration by News and Media Relations)

MTSU will be on spring break March 9-14, during the first TSSAA tournament, and no classes will be held. University offices will be open regular hours during the tournaments.

The Raider Xpress shuttle service will not run while the university is on spring break; it will return to its normal schedule March 16. During the second TSSAA tournament March 18-21, the shuttles’ “Green Route” will not serve the Greenland Drive parking lot. To accommodate riders affected by this temporary change, an extra bus will serve the “Red Route” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 18-19.

Other events scheduled on campus during the tournaments will have first-come, first-served parking in any of MTSU’s free lots, based on availability.

A searchable campus map is available at http://bit.ly/MTSUParkingMap.

For more information about MTSU traffic, parking and road closures, call the MTSU Parking and Transportation Services Office at 615-898-2850 or visit www.mtsu.edu/parking. For more information about the TSSAA state tournaments, visit www.tssaa.org or call 615-889-6740.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)