Football is getting all the attention in the ACC now, due to expansion, but
what about basketball? As Coach K might say, c'mon.
Duke obviously has a brilliant coach in Krzyzewski, who has established
himself as the best coach in modern times and given the turmoil in the modern
game, possibly the best coach ever. Gary Williams has put Maryland firmly
on the map and in the imaginations of young players. Roy Williams will
revitalize UNC basketball in a big hurry. Skip Prosser has proved to be
just about the perfect coach at Wake. Pete Gillen is a major flake, Herb
Sendek has succeeded, but not at the level State fans want. Oliver Purnell,
who takes over at Clemson is very highly regarded, as are Paul Hewitt and
Leonard Hamilton, who is fast building FSU into a team to be reckoned
with. You can toss in Syracuse for argument's sake, but even without
expansion, ACC basketball is going to be insanely competitive very soon.
Obviously the Duke-UNC matchup will be revved back up - don't think for a
minute Coach K's not loving the idea of playing Roy on a regular basis.
For that matter, every conference rivalry with UNC will go through the
roof. We'd like to see changes at UVa and possibly State, if they can't
get over the hump soon, but all things considered, the ACC is about to hit a new
level. You can safely count on bids for Duke, UNC, Wake and Maryland on an
annual basis, and the other five schools are not far behind.
Rah-rah for football and all that garbage, but ACC basketball is still the
conference's greatest treat.