To some, it was a curious move; to others, it was a brilliant one.
For the first time ever, the Atlantic Coast Conference — one of the premier college basketball leagues in the country, boasting the perennial talents of North Carolina, Duke and the University of Virginia — last week held its annual conference tournament in, of all places, Brooklyn, at the Barclays Center.
The league has just one team from New York state — former Big East power Syracuse — and the conference offices are based in North Carolina, but the postseason move to Atlantic Avenue was about more than simply flaunting recent on-court success. The conference has history in New York and last week was a return to that.
It’s the first time we’ve been in New York City, in Brooklyn, in one of the great arenas, not only in the country, but the world,” said conference commissioner John Swofford. “[There was a] great deal of excitement about it from fans at various schools and our players. New York City is such a hotbed of basketball.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference has long tapped a pipeline of New York City talent; coach Frank McGuire led North Carolina team to an undefeated record and a national championship in 1957. Former Georgia Tech stars Kenny Anderson and Bobby Cremins fine-tuned their skills at New York-area high schools, and Williamsburg native Jose Alvarado will also suit up with the Yellow Jackets next season.
Big crowds filled seats at Barclays Center throughout the week, and the championship game between Duke and Notre Dame on March 11 was jam-packed with fans rooting, and jeering, for both sides.
The move to Brooklyn was not controversy-free, however; Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim drew national headlines – and a few social media responses – after he criticized even the idea of returning to the conference tournament former home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“There’s no value in playing in Greensboro, none,” Boeheim said after the Orange’s second-round loss. “Why do you think the Big Ten is coming into New York? It’s business, good business sense. They all say it’s a business. Well, then, let’s start acting like it’s a business.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, however, had nothing but praise for the former tournament site — which happens to be less than an hour’s drive away from his Blue Devils’ home court.
“There’s been great value having it in Greensboro because this is the tournament that everyone copied,” he said. “So if the powers to be want it to eventually go back…stay in Greensboro or visit or whatever, so be it. I think they deserve that.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference tournament will return to Barclays once more next season, before it moves to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2019, and then back to Greensboro. The return to North Carolina, however, has been jeopardized by the state’s House Bill 2, commonly called HB2, a law that affects the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender people by legislating that in government buildings, individuals may only use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates. Backlash against the law cost the state this year’s NBA All-Star game.
And as far as Swofford is concerned, there’s no place like Brooklyn for basketball — particularly when the conference has been nothing short of dominant over the last few years.
“I don’t think there’s any question that over the course of the entire season this year, that we’re the strongest collegiate basketball conference in the country, top to bottom,” he said. “It’s been really gratifying to see that our league is enjoying the kind of success.”
