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Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. And now we present to you the reason the Atlantic Coast Conference turns a profit. He is the voice of the ACC. His name is Wes Durham. I just say that just to make him laugh at the beginning of every interview.
Wes Durham joins us. Because it's factually not true. Can we verify that part of that?
Well, the ACC turns a profit. Well, but it's not because of me. But you're kind to say that and imply that I am the reason. It's debatable. It's debatable that I think it could be. We don't know that it's not, right? Is that true?
I hear you. So I could be right. There's a reason they asked you to do the special on February 28th. Coach K and Roy Williams rivals reunited, right?
There's a reason they asked you to do it. Well, can I tell you how this happened? Sure.
Well, it actually shows you that sometimes things just evolve and then the next thing you know, it's going to be on television. And a lot of credit on this goes to Mack Morris, who, of course, is a Hall of Fame basketball coach at Page High School in Greensboro. Right. And he and Phil Weaver, who was the longtime the head basketball coach at Grimsley for years, have kind of coordinated the North Carolina Coaches Association and their clinic, which is probably best known as like that East-West All-Star weekend. OK. Yeah. And so Coach Morris was having a conversation with our friend, you know, Rob Goodman, who used to be in television sports in Greensboro.
I was in sports marketing and a czar at that. Yeah. And Rob and Mack were having a conversation. And Mack said, well, you know, Rob, we're going to have the clinic.
And this was a year ago this month, ironically. And he said, well, you know, Rob, we're going to have the clinic in July and we're going to have Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski and Coach K said that they'd like to do just a conversation as opposed to just speaking and drawing on a whiteboard type deal for the clinicians. So do you think that West would be interested in moderating that conversation? And so Rob asked me a question, I went, well, where do I sign up? The first thing I said was, when is it? Right. It was July 17th.
And I said, OK, I'm good on July 17th. And the next thing I know, I'm on the phone with Mike Morris. And he said, well, Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams both said you'd be perfect to do it. I thought, OK. And then the coup de grace question from Coach Morris.
Right. Do you think anybody would want to televise it? Yeah, I think they might.
Coach, I think they might. And then I'll say all this for, you know, people who want to know how stuff like this happens. That's the first part. The second part is ESPN projects and films certainly had a certainly had an interest in it. But they also knew that in their production arrangement with Raycom Sports, that Raycom would be better prepared to do an event like this based on kind of where it was going to be in the Greensboro Coliseum and so forth. So, Adam, old friends, Rob Reichley, Jordan Smith, our producer, did a phenomenal job.
We had a terrific, not good. We had a terrific camera crew for this event. And I think people are going to enjoy it. West's number one job was to ask a question in as short a span as possible and get out of the way. Right. That was my number one job. And hopefully I did that right, because I thought those two guys were terrific. And I think people really enjoy it. So, yeah, February 28th, one hour.
Coach K and Roy Williams. I saw the trailer for it. You can if you get to the ESPN pressroom, which anybody can go to to see the release about it. There's a link to the trailer and you can watch the trailer. It's about a minute and a half on. They put it out on Twitter.
So it's just the dynamite things. I can't wait to watch it. Let me ask you a couple of other things. And at the end of this conversation, we'll we'll talk about the sad news from over the weekend.
But I want to get to a couple of other things. Where do you think the ACC sits basketball wise as we head to the final three weeks of the regular season? Well, obviously, I think it's a lot better league than Joe Leonardi, John Rothstein injured. Yes, we can't get it. We can't unwrap our minds around quads. We're just so dug in with that. No, no, we're yeah, we're in. We're all if you're one of these bracket ology people who have been able to carve out some degree of income from projecting things starting on November the 10th.
And and take it every day all the way through. Then God bless you. Number one for that kind of entrepreneurial spirit.
But also number two, you're you're far you got far more free time than I do. Yeah. I think that the ACC is a league that now has, in my opinion, four locks. I Clemson, Duke Carolina and Virginia are in.
Yep. Of those, I think, Virginia is probably the one that's most tenuous. I do believe there are probably three schools playing for one, maybe two spots. And that's that group of Wake, Pitt and NC State. And I think depending on what happens going down the road, I don't, for instance, the net today, I believe if you had to go tomorrow, I think those six would get in. Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Wake, Virginia and Pitt in numerical order.
I think they find a way in. First of all, Pitt is Pitt's at Wake Forest this week, right? Virginia Tech this weekend at home. You look at the remaining schedule they've got. They've got three on the road and three at home. Their home games are Virginia Tech, Florida State, NC State. Their road games are BC, Clemson, Wake Forest.
If you go forward to, I think they got a chance to get in, right? I also think they're legitimately good. They are legitimately good and they proved it.
Yeah. They approved it with the win at Cameron's for sure. And then they proved it the other night in the game, Dan and I out of Virginia.
I mean, they and then they doubled down Saturday night and Blake Henson started playing for first team votes the other night. Holy cow. I mean, he said sixty seven points in two games. Sixty seven.
We got to go a ways. You know, Randolph Childress did a phenomenal deal in nineteen ninety five. Yeah.
Give me some back to back stuff like T.J. Warren maybe had some sixty seven in two games. It's been a while, though, Agee. Yeah, great. Right.
Absolutely. Sixty seven in two league games. But I think Pitt is in the mix. I think Wake is certainly in the mix. I cannot begin to tell you how big Saturday is for Wake Forest. These two home games for Wake. Remember, they play two of their last four on the road. I think Wake can solidify themselves before they get to the end of the road.
Let's say if they win two games this week. How's that? Yeah, I mean, look, I don't know. I don't know if any of these are eliminators. Right. I don't know that Pitt at Wake is an elimination game, but it's it's super important. Wake doesn't have good wins regardless of where they played home or right.
Right. It's got the the gravitas of some of their wins. I mean, to win at Cameron and in Charlottesville.
That's as good. The only team with maybe better wins is Georgia Tech, strangely enough. But yeah, they have. But Pitt doesn't have anything outside the league, which is the same as Wake.
I'm surprised you didn't think like throw a little bit more sunshine on Virginia Tech, which just needs some good conference results, I think, to put themselves because they did good work outside the league. They did. They did. I just don't know, Adam.
I don't. And look, I'll say this. And I said this before the game Saturday and then watched it happen.
I just don't know that they have the inside firepower to match what they do from the perimeter. And I like Lynn Kidd. I certainly like my Elijah Poteet. But when Patrick Westler came on the floor the other day, Carolina with the Bangkok four straight possession. Yeah. And I understand why, but I just don't know that they don't have Justin Mutts.
That's what I need. And I keep coming back to know Justin Mutts this year more than anything else. I like what MJ Collins open the ballgame playing. Well, I like Mike Young's team, but I think in kind of a weird way, they're a year away. And I think with Kidd potentially having one more year, Poteet having one more year, a couple more years in his case, development of Westler, things like that. I like where their future is.
And I know that he'll go play in the portal for one or two spots, too. Right. I think Virginia Tech could be a handful next year. I think they'll win tonight.
Don't get me wrong. I think they're capable of winning tonight. Because Virginia is the worst free throw shooting team in the ACC.
They were one of eleven Saturday against Wake Forest. And you know what the second halves are like at Castle when they get riled up for bacon there. I mean, and tonight in the second half, if Virginia starts missing free throws, it's like in that building, that building is tough now. It's a hard building to win in.
A lot harder than people realize, I think. No, the Castle's dynamite. Duke's been good on the road. I'm curious about the way they finish their season. Because I think Duke is starting to exhibit some toughness. They just need Kyle Filipowski to return to being the Filipowski who played at Pitt. He doesn't have to be that good. Yeah. And we saw him in his finest hour at Pitt. There's no question. It was a crazy game. I would ask you if Duke does not win the regular season.
Call clickranger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. Do they have a first team all ACC player? I mean, Kyle Filipowski is going to be one of the five, I think. Well, let me give you eight names.
Okay? R.J. Davis. Is R.J. Davis a lock? He's the player of the year. Is P.J. Hall a lock? I don't know if he's a lock, but I don't know if he's a lock any more than Kyle Filipowski is.
Okay. Reece Beekman, Virginia. Yeah. Hunter Salas, Wake Forest.
I think there's a lot of guys who are potentially left off balance. I think all four of those guys... Armando Bacot. Yeah, I think Armando Bacot is the third best player on his own team. Okay. Would you put Harrison Ingram ahead of Armando Bacot? I would. Yes.
Okay. And then Blake Henson making the late push with Kyle Filipowski. I mean, again, here we go. We're going to have what I think to be, and I said this this morning on our ACC Today show on Sirius XM, shameless plug. I think there are four positions right now where we can have a discussion and four guys for one spot. And I think it's going to be... David Teal was on there talking to us about... I think we're going to get to the final week of the regular season. We're bringing the Bayon show back to Chapel Hill for Notre Dame Carolina game.
I don't... Another shameless plug. There you go. I don't know that we're going to get to the final week of the regular season where you and I in the past have been able to go chapter verse on five players for first team. I don't know that we're going to be able to do that on the last week of the regular season. Yeah, there's four open spots for that.
There's probably eight or nine players who are fighting for four. I think if Kyle Filipowski plays well the last three weeks, he's going to be an automatic. But he's got to get back to playing closer to what he was three or so weeks ago. I contend that he looks kind of injured to me, but they say no.
They say he's banged up, but everybody's banged up at this point. I would say this. I think he, Jeremy Roach, and Martin Mitchell... Look, Jeremy became phenomenal the other day.
Yeah. But I would offer you, I still believe their most important player will either be Filipowski, Roach, or Mitchell. One of those three going down the stretch. It's probably the two that I will just say big guys. It's those two. It's Mitchell and Filipowski.
They have to be the best versions of themselves for Duke to be really successful. It would be nice to see what Tyrese Proctor can be fully operational. And he hasn't had a great year anyway.
And then, of course, he's injured. Did you catch... West Durham is joining us here. I don't want to waste the rest of your day, but did you catch Andy Staples' piece on three where he basically... He talked about what the ACC did in the last legal filing. They basically made this a negotiation. If you're the Atlantic Coast Conference, if you negotiated an exit fee for Florida State, a price for their freedom, aren't you basically writing the end of the league as a power league? That might be the case either way. But aren't you just basically signing away your A5 status at this point? Potentially.
I'm not a good enough lawyer at this point, or even try to play one, to understand all the whereases and what-fors in that stuff. I will say this. If it feels like that if it is not the reported approximated exit fee paid, which I'm not sure how Florida State's going to acquire that money, I think that would be a real red light for the rest of the ACC.
Now, I'm going to be incredibly surprised if this board of directors and executive committee comprised of the now 18 institutional leaders, chambers and presidents, or 17 in this case since I guess Rick McCollough is not involved, Florida State, that I'd be really surprised if they settled for a, quote, negotiation. Look, I said this. I don't know if I said it to you on your show, but I said it to others. There was no possible way this will not get ugly.
Oh, of course. And if it goes to trial, it will be ugly. Now, trial and what I know about the ACC is that their team of attorneys in the state of North Carolina suit features what I've been told one of the very best litigators the state of North Carolina has. And again, I cover sports for a living.
I don't do lawyers. So I'm hearing this from other people who would know better than I would. And I've also been told that their legal team in the state of Florida is excellent. I don't know why the ACC would put themselves in a situation to negotiate what I think they can win. I mean, I am of the belief from talking to attorneys and legal people that the ACC can win the case in both states.
Without a lot of stress is what I've been told. Now, is there something about the discovery or something about any of this other thing that we're not being told that would lead to some of this other stuff? I'm not sure about that.
I haven't heard anything to the contrary. I just don't. To me, if you settle, if you put a price on it, then you're inviting everybody else to also negotiate their way out. Private equity is going to have to buy everybody out. And that's the thing.
Nobody's got, you know, 300 million dollars laying around. Yeah. So, Adam, let me ask you this, and neither one of us are on CNBC every night, right? No. Thank goodness. I am. Some people ask me, are you Carl Kintana? No, they don't like it.
Well, nobody ever mistakes me for Jim Cramer, so we're OK. If you invite private equity into an athletic department, albeit public or private institution. And what I know about business is dangerous, but I do enjoy following business because it's not the NFL salary cap or, you know, somebody's third down conversion rate. If you invite private equity into the equation, the first thing private equity is going to do in from what I understand about their work is they're going to look at whoever they're bailing out. And that's what they're doing, right?
They're going to look at someone's bottom line and that structure and start reduction. Correct? Yeah. Yeah, that to me would be a bit of a flag going up a pole that is red to two schools that are hemorrhaging money.
And again, I may be wrong here and you probably can find smarter guests on the show to talk about this, but I think private equity and intercollegiate athletics is a fascinating combination and one that I don't know that we have an expert in the field who be representing sports or media at this point. All right. Final thing before West Durham has to go.
Lefty Giselle passed away over the weekend, 92 years old. We already talked to John Feinstein. I'm going to bring up a little bit more. It's a little bit on the cutting room floor of our conversation with John Feinstein on the other side.
But just if you can, I don't know if you can do it in 60 seconds or not. Your thoughts on the passing of the left hander? He is an ACC legend for sure. He is a basketball innovator legend. God's blessings to his family.
I'm thankful he got to have his moment at the Hall of Fame where he not only turned the room upside down, but he was vintage lefty. For the ones who work hard to ensure their crew can always go the extra mile and the ones who get in early so everyone can go home on time. There's Grainger offering professional grade supplies backed by product experts so you can quickly and easily find what you need. Plus, you can count on access to a committed team ready to go the extra mile for you.
Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. And, you know, there's so many stories that range the spectrum of the Davidson days all the way to the Georgia State days. I mean, he stopped me at Phillips Arena and said, Hey, I knew your dad.
I need to talk to you. And I said, What do you want to tell Paul Hewitt? I want to play when he was at Georgia State. I said, Well, yeah, this is the least coach in Georgia State.
He'd gone to the NCAA tournament. He would had to and he goes, Tell Paul, I want to play. He's not gonna play you. Why? I said, Because he doesn't want to lose the game ago. That's right.
He'd lose. And I said, Well, that's the reason he's not gonna play. Oh, come on now.
You can do this. Your dad and our friends. Okay, it's not happening. That's a pretty good lefty, by the way. Well, I worked and I told you this. I worked with Ron Bradley and Oliver Purnell, who was on his staff in the eighties at Maryland.
Right? I was at Radford. I have got five or six unbelievable lefty stories that you don't have the time or the space to tell.
And I didn't have it Saturday either, or I would have in a 15 point Carolina. Oh, man, West Durham. You're the best going to be missed and how special he was so many people and his genuine kindness to people. Yeah, Adam, after he retired and came back and Madison and Georgia State and everything else is what I'm going to remember most. His genuine, just sweet kindness to people was absolutely remarkable.
God bless. It was a great coach. He was just a great coach. He was. He was the coach at Maryland when I got to school there. He was not the coach at Maryland when I left because I was there during that whole. I am sure you and SVP can lead the league on on this word and this topic, and I'm going to go back and listen to your interview because I know I know it's an emotional time for John because very he had left.
He had a very, very unique relationship for sure. Yeah, we're going to bring up the Hall of Fame coming up with John Feinstein in just a couple of seconds. West Durham, I appreciate your time. Always at West Durham on Twitter.
The reason the Atlantic Coast Conference turns a profit. I appreciate your time, man. Be well, man. Be good. Always, always fun to visit. Take care, Victoria. We'll see you guys. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-19 17:55:26 / 2024-02-19 18:04:41 / 9
