BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Jim Boeheim isn’t a fan of Greensboro. He’s made that clear in the past and reiterated the notion on Wednesday in Brooklyn.When No. 8 Syracuse lost its opening game of the 2017 ACC Tournament against No. 9 Miami, Boeheim was asked about New York being a neutral site and if he’d like to see that continue moving forward. Following praise for Brooklyn, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Boeheim went into a tirade about why the Tournament shouldn’t be played in Greensboro.
“There’s no value in playing Greensboro, none,” Boeheim said. “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. …”And I’m saying all that because I don’t give a sh*t. I’m just saying what’s right. That’s what’s right. 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.”To Boeheim’s credit, it really doesn’t matter where the ACC Tournament is played.
During his time in the ACC, Syracuse has gone 0-3 in the conference tournament in Greensboro (2014), D.C. (2016) and now Brooklyn.After catching wind of Boeheim’s thoughts on where the tournament should be played, Greensboro shared its sentiments about Syracuse’s struggles.
.@AdamZagoria @ACCSports We kindly disagree. But I guess you can lose in the 1st round anywhere. At least it’s a quick ride home. City of Greensboro (@greensborocity) March 8, 2017
Greensboro wasn’t the only one defending its city on Wednesday. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski also came to Tournament Town’s defense. “Well, obviously, there’s been great value having it in Greensboro because this is the tournament that everyone copied,” Krzyzewski explained, “and if we didn’t have the support of an entire city to support us and keep adding to their beautiful coliseum, this tournament and this league would not be where it’s at. So if the powers that be want it to eventually go back — stay in Greensboro or visit or whatever, so be it. I think they deserve that. We still look at it, and I think coming to New York is a huge thing just because we’ve added — we have 15 teams. So a number of those teams played their tournament in New York. So their fan base was accustomed to that. So the ACC schools and then the Big East schools that went, their fan bases were accustomed to two different things.”
The next time the ACC Tournament is scheduled to be played in Greensboro is 2020, which would mark the 28th such occurrence. Boeheim is set to retire following the 2018 season, meaning he would only make one visit to the Greensboro Coliseum for the conference tournament. Then again, he’s really no value in pointing out the Orange’s future in the ACC Tournament when it contributes nothing to it on a yearly basis.
