Three Interesting ACC Hires

Three interesting ACC hires this week that are worth talking about.

First, the ACC hired Jackie Carson as Senior Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball.

She comes from Furman but has extensive experience, having worked with Nike EYBL and also has served on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee.

Obviously she brings a lot to the position.

Meanwhile Ron Sanchez, who worked for Virginia’s Tony Bennett before taking the Charlotte job, has resigned from that job and returned to UVA. He was a valued assistant and no doubt he will be again despite his struggles at Charlotte.

And finally, and perhaps most interestingly, Marcus Paige is returning to UNC as Director of Team and Player Development. You have to think he’s on the fast track to an assistant’s job whenever one opens up. And he seems like a great fit for player development.

Paige had a stellar career for Roy Williams and his then-assistant Hubert Davis, who is of course the head coach now, including his amazing shot to tie the 2016 title game with 4.7 left (Kris Jenkins made people forget about that when he hit his own thrilling buzzer beater seconds later. This is one of the great sequences in Final Four history).

Unlike some recent UNC transfers who had their plans derailed when admissions at other schools rejected their transcripts, Paige was an outstanding student and a hard guy to dislike, even for Duke fans. He’s admirable in all ways but his loyalties and you can’t fault him for that.

It won't surprise us a bit to see a sharp improvement to UNC’s guard play next season. Too bad he couldn’t have helped with Caleb Love, really.