LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Should Atlantic Coast Conference coaches wear Armani or Adidas on the sidelines this season?
If a program is confident it has earned its place in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, should it consider opting out of the ACC Tournament because of concerns about the novel corona irus?
Is there really a voter in the Associated Press Top 25 that still believes surging Florida State is not a Top 25 team?
Questions, questions, questions. The ACC makes its men’s basketball coaches available for a Zoom video-conference every Monday.
Here are highlights of what the coaches discussed Monday:
1. Will programs seriously consider opting out of the ACC Tournament, booked for Greensboro, North Carolina, from March 9-13, to avoid additional exposure to the coronavirus before the NCAA Tournament?
“What are you talking about?” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said when he was asked the question.
People are discussing that programs will opt out of the ACC event if they are certain they have already earned an NCAA spot because players must pass seven consecutive COVID-19 tests to play in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis.
“I’m not going to start playing the ‘What if?’ game,” Hamilton said. “I don’t see any more risk playing in the ACC Tournament than I see playing right now.”
Kevin Keatts of North Carolina State and Roy Williams of North Carolina said it was too soon to make that call.
“Haven’t thought about it, won’t think about it, don’t care to think about it” Williams said.
“For some folks, it might be their only opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament,” Keatts said.
U of L coach Chris Mack had a different take.
Louisville coach Chris Mack talks to his team during a preseason scrimmage.
“I would consider it,” Mack said. “Probably wouldn't be my decision alone, up to our players. I'd talk to obviously our administration. That'd be a hell of a choice I’d get to make, I can tell you that.”
It’s going to be a heck of a choice for a lot of people. The ACC has extraordinary pride in its tournament. It was canceled last season in Greensboro. This is John Swofford’s final year as commissioner.
Oh, and it is critical TV inventory for the league. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not convinced the ACC’s rights partners would be pleased with an ACC final that matched Georgia Tech against Clemson.
Considering that, it’s difficult to believe opt-outs will be rubber-stamped by the league.
2. Four ACC teams were ranked in the latest AP college basketball Top 25, which was released at noon Monday:
Virginia (No. 8); Florida State (No. 16); Virginia Tech (No. 20) and Louisville (No. 25).
Florida State (9-2, 5-1) is second to Virginia in the ACC race. The Seminoles have won their last four against N.C. State, North Carolina, Louisville and Clemson by an average of nearly 18 points.
“They’re playing the best basketball in our league,” Keatts said. “I don’t know if there is anything we could have done against Florida State. They were great.”
“I see them as the most athletic team in the ACC,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “I think they’re in a position to compete for an ACC regular season title.”
But one voter did not include FSU in his Top 25, and six others did not have the Seminoles in their Top 20. (Link to where each voter ranked the Seminoles.)
Huh?
Hamilton said the issue is that he believed because FSU does not have 75-80 years of glorious hoops tradition that voters discount the Seminoles after losses.
Louisville is not scheduled for a rematch with the Seminoles. But that could change. The ACC scratched the Cards’ game with Boston College that was booked for Saturday and replaced it with a Wednesday night visit to Clemson as well as a Monday afternoon home game against Georgia Tech.
“We preached all year long about flexibility and versatility,” Mack said. “It is certainly needed when a (Clemson) game that was scheduled in March gets thrown on your plate on Jan. 27. You know we're excited to play, knowing otherwise we'd have a lot of days off.”
3. I do not believe there was an official memo, but for some reason (lack of fans likely atop the list), many coaches have exchanged their suits and ties for polo shirts and track pants.
Sources say Brey coached at least one game in shorts when the Irish played at North Carolina.
Is this the end of the Armani Era in college basketball?
“I have a feeling it may be hard to get coaches back in suits, and I'll be one of them,” Brey said. “Bob Huggins is going to run a seminar on sideline attire. I will be attending.”
Where?
"In Vegas," Brey said.
“Do I look like I miss wearing suits?” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “I always thought it was kind of ridiculous we had to do it.”
“You think about all the years you invested in buying suits, and now, we don’t wear them,” Keatts said. “I miss my lucky suit that I’ve never lost in. I might even put that on.”
There was one dissenting vote. Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said he will return to a coat and tie.
4. Now that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski apologized to the reporter from the Duke student newspaper that he fussed at after the Blue Devils’ loss at Louisville on Saturday, Coach K had complimentary things to say about his trip here.
Krzyzewski was impressed by U of L guard Carlik Jones. He enjoyed playing with fans in the KFC Yum! Center, even if they were cheering for the other team.
“(Georgia Tech guard Jose) Alvarado and Jones from Louisville are just at a different level,” Coach K said. “They’re men. They're old. They're such good competitors, and at the end of the clock, you can go to them, and they'll make something happen.”
After playing three straight road games, Duke (5-5) will play four of its next five at home. There are no fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season, including when U of L visits Feb. 27.
“You're happy to be at home, but the buzz and excitement are not alive and well when there's no fans,” Krzyzewski said. “It was kind of nice at Louisville that there were some fans. I don't fault our administration for not having them.
“This should be a thing where losing three in a row and coming home, our fans would go nuts in support of these kids, and that's a missing element this season.”
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