The Barnett Center will be a non-stop center of attention for the next couple of weeks.

The facility on the campus of Northern State will be the host site for this week’s annual Class B State Boys’ Basketball Tournament, followed by a pair of high school track and field meets on Monday and Tuesday, before the annual South Dakota Youth Wrestling Tournament moves in next week, followed by two more track and field meets.

Put it all together, and there will be no shortage of action at the structure.

“I think it’s great. I’m excited,” said first-year Northern State athletic director Nate Davis who came to Aberdeen last April. “A lot of the stuff will be the first-time through for me.”

The activity officially gets underway at 9 this morning when State B basketball teams begin their hour-long practice sessions on the Wachs Arena floor.

“I’m excited for the State B tournament to come and to take all that in,” Davis said. “There’s always excitement around those tournaments.”

Davis said it is an honor to host a state tourney and be able to expose thousands of people to Northern State.

“I think it’s a great showcase for Northern and for the Aberdeen community to put Wachs out there and kind of spotlight it a little bit,” he said.

Of course, the other events will also accomplish the same thing, just in a bit of a different manner. The track and field meets will take place outside of the basketball court, while the wrestling mats will spill well past the basketball surface as well.

“Those track meets get rolling, it’s a great opportunity to get more students, just more people in the building and on campus,” Davis said, “and same with the youth wrestling.”

Davis said it takes an “army of people” to help to put on these events. He said sometimes people don’t always understand what an undertaking it is to coordinate and host tournaments.

“There are those that think that you just show up and everything is ready to go,” Davis said. “Having done athletic administration and spent a fair amount of time on the facilities and event management side, I think a lot of people do think well, it’s not that hard, you just pull the bleachers out, and put some chairs out. There’s a lot more to it than that.”

While this may be the first time that Davis has experienced these events at Northern, he is by no means a stranger to similar situations, having been a part of tournaments at other stops before coming to Aberdeen.

“I fully understand and appreciate all that goes into it,” Davis said, “the planning and the organization and the communication, and just how many different teams have to come together to make that work.”

There will be thousands of excited fans attending these functions at the Barnett Center the next couple of weeks and you can count Davis in the mix as well.

“I’m super excited. You just hear so many of the stories about the State B Tournament. The crowds that are here,” Davis said. “For me, I love this time of year, just because it’s fun to go to tournament settings like that and watch games.”