Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has made it perfectly clear he has no desire to play ACC Tournament games in Greensboro, North Carolina
Boeheim was asked about the ACC tournament being played in a location that has been called “more neutral” for Syracuse and other ACC members, compared to the state of North Carolina, which has traditionally led to a bit of a homecourt feel for perennial ACC contenders Duke and North Carolina. Not surprisingly, Boeheim lauded the ACC’s decision to play the tournament in a big city like New York.
“I think the big city is where it should be played,” Boeheim said about the ACC tournament location. “I think it should be played here, Washington, Atlanta. That’s where the tournament should be played.”
Boeheim’s comments about playing the tournament in New York are to be expected. As the longtime head coach of the Syracuse program, Boeheim has coached plenty of conference tournament games in Madison Square Garden as a member of the Big East. But Boeheim went a little deeper and commented specifically about the tournament’s longtime home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“I think there’s a huge value in playing the tournament in those places,” Boeheim said. “There’s no value in playing in Greensboro, none. It’s there because the league’s been there and the office is there, and they have 150 people that the ACC needs. That’s why it’s there. It should not be there.”
Full quote re: ACC Tournament locations from Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. pic.twitter.com/7XvKp0fTMR
— Joe Ovies (@joeovies) March 8, 2017
As if Boeheim had not already made his point about Greensboro, he continued.
“You get in the media centers and the recruiting centers, how many players do they have in Greensboro? I mean, New York, Washington, Atlanta, that’s where the media centers are.”
Boeheim went on to suggest there is a reason the Big Ten is about to move its men’s basketball tournament into New York. The 2018 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament will be played in Madison Square Garden, the longtime home of the Big East tournament. The ACC Tournament will again be played in Brooklyn next year as well. The Big East is playing this year’s tournament in the Garden.
In response to Boeheim’s thoughts on the city, the official Twitter account for the city of Greensboro retaliated with authority.
https://twitter.com/greensborocity/status/839563546518294530
Syracuse was ousted from the ACC Tournament with a 62-57 loss to Miami on Wednesday, the first game of the tournament for the Orange. It is the third straight time Syracuse was eliminated from the ACC Tournament in its first game played. Syracuse did not play in the 2015 tournament due to a self-imposed postseason ban, meaning Syracuse has never won an ACC Tournament game since leaving the Big East for the ACC.
So Greensboro gets the last laugh on this one.
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