The Southern Conference basketball tournaments are staying in Asheville - for at least a few more weeks, maybe longer.
The SoCon's athletic directors held a conference call Wednesday, and conference officials had a call with chancellors and presidents of the 10 league schools Thursday to answer any questions to help decide the tournaments' fate.
That wasn't enough, as the league's council of presidents has requested additional information from the league office and will reconvene in the near future to continue discussions.
The men's and women's tournaments have been in Asheville since 2012 and are scheduled to be in the North Carolina city until 2021.
The Asheville Times-Citizen reported that on Tuesday a number of city, county and state politicians met with SoCon commissioner John Iamarino at the U.S. Cellular Center - the tournament site - to emphasize that Asheville is the best place to hold the championship events. Several members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community were in attendance as well.
The state came under fire in the wake of "House Bill 2," which some believe can lead to discrimination against the LGBT community. That led to the NCAA announcing it will be moving seven postseason events out of North Carolina, which included the opening weekend of the national men's basketball tournament games that were set for March 17 and 19 in Greensboro.
A few days later, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced it would be moving its championships, which included the ACC football title game in Charlotte, out of the state.
"We had an open discussion among the chancellors and presidents," Iamarino said in a release. "This is a complicated issue that the group decided requires more time and further study."
The SoCon has two North Carolina schools: UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.