Rod Kelly delivers mail in Homewood’s Rosedale community. He knows well the creed of the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Kelly and a number of his fellow postal workers are nearly as committed to attending the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s State Basketball Championships at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

“COVID stopped everything,” the Alabaster resident said. “But besides a death in the family, I try to get through with my route as soon as I can, get off work and go down there.”

The 105th edition of the championships begins Monday with 56 boys and girls teams coming to the Magic City for a chance to realize the dream of winning a state championship.

And just like the postal service, the state basketball tournament delivers.

Like J.D. Davison’s dramatic game-winning 3-pointer when Calhoun topped Barbour County 64-61 for the 2020 Class 2A boys championship.

Or William Lee’s clutch performance — a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime and then three free throws with 5.4 seconds left in the extra frame — to lift Dallas County to a 51-48 victory for the 2014 boys Class 4A title.

Or the Wenonah girls knocking off Charles Henderson 55-52 in 2017 for their fourth straight championship despite Maori Davenport’s incredible 25-point, 25-rebound, 19-block triple-double display.

Heath Harmon will attend his first state championships at Legacy Arena as executive director of the AHSAA. He’s attended the spectacle before, including when he was principal at Oxford High and the Yellow Jacket girls reached the Class 6A final in 2022, falling 55-38 to Hazel Green.

“This is my 28th year as an educator,” Harmon said, looking back to his start as a teacher and a coach. “I have always been very appreciative of everything that the Athletic Association does, especially with the championships.

“The championships, to me, are the best in the nation,” the executive director continued. “Every time I get a chance to go to national meetings for the National Federation of High Schools, other states’ executive directors, when I talk to them, they consistently talk to me about our championship programs. They’re just very well respected internationally.”

The AHSAA executive director described a perfect storm of the best teams in the state converging on Legacy Arena to produce performances that might never be forgotten.

“You not only have to be one of the best teams in the state, you’ve got to be playing your best right now,” Harmon said. “When those teams come together to compete, you’re just going to have these opportunities for special things to happen that are going to be memories that people are going to be talking about 20, 30, 40 years from now.”

Harmon recalled that former AHSAA Executive Director Dan Washburn created today’s format in which the boys and girls basketball tournaments are played under the same roof, drawing fans from across the state.

“I just think throughout the years, there’s just been a very intentional effort on the part of the athletic association to provide an elite experience for our student athletes in the championship events,” Harmon said.

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex bolstered the feel of the event with enhancements to the arena where the basketball games are played.

“It was a full scale, down-to-the-studs renovation that completely changed the face of what that arena looked like,” said David Galbaugh of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It does nothing but help us put our best foot forward when we’ve got a big event like the high school athletic association coming in for their basketball championship. It’s done nothing but help us with that event and many others as well.”

Areawide Economic Impact

The chase for championships is the main event of the week but the impact of what’s happening at Legacy Arena is far reaching. It provides a significant economic impact for the Birmingham metro area.

The AHSAA State Finals generated $4,341,119 in direct economic impact for Jefferson County in 2024, according to the bureau.

“We’re expecting the same kind of thing this year,” Galbaugh said. “We won’t know until all the numbers are in, but I don’t see it deviating too much. It’s a huge economic impact for us.

“I just love the fact that they bring everybody together, both the boys and girls, for this weeklong event,” he continued. “That’s what makes it even more special to me.”

Harmon said he expects to be busy with lots of association activities going on during the week.

“We’ll have a lot going on and I’ll be moving about,” he said. “But there’ll be some times where I can be courtside, taking it in as well.”

Kelly, the Rosedale postal carrier, was part of the final graduating class of Birmingham’s Jones Valley High School. He said seeing local teams is his No. 1 motivation for annually coming to Legacy Arena.

This year, Birmingham City Schools are represented in Class 5A by the Ramsay girls and the Wenonah boys. Beyond the Birmingham system, Mountain Brook will square off against Chelsea in a Class 6A girls semifinal.

The Hoover boys and girls teams both are bidding for repeat titles in Class 7A, with the Hoover girls going for their fifth crown in a row and the boys for their second. Other local representatives are the Fairfield boys, who are looking to repeat as champions in Class 4A, and the Class 6A Pinson Valley boys.