GREENSBORO, N.C. — With the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament reportedly moving to the Barclays Center in 2017 and 2018, The Daily Orange is asking ACC coaches for their reactions.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams

Williams was not interested in talking about the reported move after the Tar Heels were upset by Pittsburgh 80-75 in the 2 p.m. quarterfinals game.

When asked directly about the event potentially being out of Greensboro for three straight years (it will be held at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. in 2016), he responded with sarcasm and discontent.

“We just got our butts kicked and we’ve got to get ready for the NCAA Tournament,” Williams said. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a blankety blank where the hell they put it.

“If they put it in Siberia, I’m going to try to go play. If they put it in (Charles D.) Owen High School in Black Mountain (N.C), Swannanoa Valley, I’m going to try our best to go out and play.”

Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon

Dixon said he’s seen the effect keeping an event in one place can have on its growth, citing both the ACC tournament in Greensboro and the Big East tournament in Madison Square Garden. But he emphasized that the tournament itself, not where it is played, is most important.

“It’s going to be great no matter what,” Dixon said. “That’s what we have to remind ourselves of. We can debate it and talk about it and maneuver and try it where you need to have it. But either way it’s going to be great. It’s going to be terrific.

“And I think it’s going to grow into the best event in college basketball. That’s what it will become.”

When asked if the expansion to other places in the country would contribute to the ACC tournament becoming the nation’s premier event, Dixon said he was unsure.

“I don’t know that, there’s benefits to both,” Dixon said. “Moving it around obviously doesn’t give the home-court advantage to certain teams every year, but at the same time I think being willing to go to the same place every time brings a tradition that we have in the Big East.”

The bottom line, Dixon said, is that the conference tournament is improving each year.

“We’re excited to be a part of it,” Dixon said. “I think it’s great for our conference wherever it ends up. We’ll be there and we’ll be excited about playing.”

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett

Bennett said that he was unaware of the deal early Friday afternoon, before the Greensboro News & Record published a story in which Greensboro Coliseum director Matt Brown called the deal definite.

“First of all, I would be the last to know if that was valid or not,” Bennett said. “This is wonderful here. We’ll show up and play anywhere, but this is a special place.”

Bennett spoke of how special the tournament has been for him. Even before coaching the Cavaliers these last six seasons, he caught a glimpse of the spectacle as a point guard for the Charlotte Hornets from 1992-95.

He said he first went in 1995 after former teammates Mike Gminske and J.R. Reid recommended it.

“I went in `95 with my fiancé at the time back then, it was unbelievable,” Bennett said. “I remember sitting up there and I got my first taste of how special the tournament is here.”

But Bennett said he has no issues with the tournament moving around. It will be played at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. in 2016, and has also frequented Atlanta (2009, 12) and Tampa, Fla.,  (2007) in recent years.

“Postseason play is special,” Bennett said, “and obviously whatever the ACC decides to do, we’ll show up and we’ll be excited to play anywhere.”

Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton

Hamilton, who grew up in Gastonia, N.C., about 100 miles southwest of Greensboro, raved about the historical importance of playing the tournament in the Coliseum.

“The reputation of the ACC has been built because of the outstanding ACC tournament for many, many years,” Hamilton said. “I think it set the standard by which all other conference tournaments have been judged through the years, the pageantry, the interest, the support. And it’s been honed right here in Greensboro.”

But Hamilton’s perspective stretches farther than just Tobacco Road. He coached at Miami from 1990-2000, and saw New York City’s basketball market firsthand in each of the nine Big East tournaments he experienced at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m not real sure you can ever replace the culture that has been built for so many years as a result of the tournament being held here in Greensboro,” Hamilton said, “but over the years, it’s obvious the footprint of the league has changed.”

Hamilton also noted the non-Tobacco Road locations the ACC tournament has been held in, and said that he understands the benefits they can provide.

“If it moves somewhere else, I think it would just be part of the plan of the ACC to expand their territory,” Hamilton said, “which is not anything different than what we’ve been doing all along.”

Published on March 14, 2014 at 4:35 pm

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