03/09/24 – Spring Esports Enrollment Update + Splatoon 3 and NBA 2K 24 Make it to State

March 9, 2024 Athletic Department Blog Updates

New Spring State League Game Offerings

We are happy to announce that we had enough participation to move Splatoon 3 (Nintendo Switch) and NBA2K24 (Playstation 4) from our two regional leagues to the KHSAA State League.  This means that these two titles will move up to the PlayVS/KHSAA postseason and in-person championships at the University of Kentucky on Thursday, April 25.  The KHSAA now offers all seven available titles at the state league level.

Our Kentucky PlayVS State League site has been updated with the addition of the two new titles:  https://www.playvs.com/kentucky

NBA 2K 24, like Madden NFL24, is what PlayVS refers to as “Solos” (or a 1 versus 1 title).  It allows KHSAA student-athletes to step onto the court with their favorite NBA teams in the 25th installment of the NBA2K Professional Basketball franchise. Solo teams play a 1v1 match, selecting from a pool of 30 NBA teams from the 2022-2023 season (No custom rosters or Historic teams) before heading courtside.  The team with the most points at the end of the 4th period wins. Should the score be tied after the fourth period, the teams compete in overtime to determine a winner. Matches consist of 3 games, with the victor being crowned after their second win.  The game is rated by the ESRB as E for Everyone.  You can find more information about the title at both PlayVS’ website (https://ly.khsaa.org/cwma) and game publisher 2K’s website (https://nba.2k.com/2k24/).  To see this season’s participating teams and standings, visit the NBA 2K 24 Kentucky State League site (https://ly.khsaa.org/j3ma).  

Splatoon 3, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is a 4 versus 4 title.  In it, players control characters known as Inklings and Octolings. Ink the ground or any inkable surface to swim or refill their ink tanks. Players can morph between a kid or a squid — where they change from running and ink-slinging into squid-form where they can find shortcuts and reach different spots to lay down ink.  Each team of 4 will compete in 5 different game modes: Turf War, Splat Zones, Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Clam Blitz. While all of them play differently, each mode requires teams to communicate and coordinate to take home the win!  The game is rated by the ESRB as E10 (Everyone 10 & Older).  More information about the title can also be found at PlayVS’ site (https://ly.khsaa.org/u3na) and game publisher Nintendo’s website (https://splatoon.nintendo.com/). To see this season’s participating teams and standings, visit the Splatoon 3 Kentucky State League site (https://ly.khsaa.org/k2nw).  

Update on Spring Enrollment

I think everyone will be very pleased to see the updated Teams Dashboard (which is up-to-date as of March 8):  https://ly.khsaa.org/dgwa

After the dust of enrollment settled, you can see we ended up at 1,927 student-athletes on 469 teams across 127 schools

Best of luck to all competitors as you enter week four of competition the week of Monday, March 11!