Calhoun believes the ACC sided with Louisville for two reasons: location and, more than anything, Louisville's ability to sell its program.
"They sold it very well, without question," he said. "But I don't think this thing has stopped. There are going to be four or five major conferences, and they'll want the major schools, and we're one of them."
He added that he never worried about the state of the Big East in his 26 years at the helm at UConn, no matter the rumors of its eventual demise, and the program shouldn't start worrying now.
"I think that's what we have to do right now," Calhoun said, pointing out the school's academic strong points. "This is where we are. We're the 20th-ranked state school, 63rd overall and we're bringing in 319 PhD's ..."
As for which ACC schools may or may not want UConn, the coach noted that the basketball-heavy schools (Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia) are "allies" ... and also pointed out that Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame didn't have votes in the recent invitation process.
Dave, do you think there is any truth to the rumors stated in other blogs and articles that Boeheim was not a supporter of UCONN joining the ACC and tried to influence Coach K on the decision? I find that hard to believe since he and Coach Calhoun have always had a friendly relationship and as stated, the new members of the ACC were not involved in the vote.
ReplyDeleteI've been told by people who'd know that Boeheim wasn't a fan of UConn joining ACC. Whether he conveyed that to Coach K, or whether K listened, isn't known. But don't overestimate the "friendship" between Boeheim and Calhoun.
ReplyDeleteBoeheim is afraid of competition in the northeast.
ReplyDeleteBoheim wasn't a fan of Syracuse entering the ACC so I fail to see how or why his opinion on UConn is seen as a detriment
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