ACC Tournament Memories
I love the ACC Tournament and have already mentioned how much I enjoyed the ESPN Films documentary - I highly recommend giving it a watch. I’ve attended at least one ACC Tournament game in 16 different seasons, including the full slate of games in the following years: 1993-2000, 2003, 2005-2006, 2009-2010. I’m incredibly lucky and owe tremendous thanks to one of my best friends and his dad. They invited my dad and I in 1993 and going to Charlotte that year was the coolest thing ever - my first guys trip. We went every year after that until the tournament moved to Atlanta in 2001. The dads would pick us up early from school on Thursday in time to make it to the game(s) that day. From 1993-1997 it was the 8 vs. 9-seed play-in game before the league experimented with a new format from 1998 to 2000. Friday was always my favorite day, with four games divided into two sessions at 12 pm and 7 pm. My friend and his dad were and still are Carolina fans (and alums), and Duke and UNC were always on opposite sides of the bracket during those years, so one of us had a rooting interest in each session.
The dads were masters of improving our seats as the weekend went along (they were once falsely accused by law enforcement of scalping tickets at a NASCAR race) and the idea was when a team would lose, their fan base would be looking to sell their remaining tickets for the weekend. In those days, tons of people would be buying and selling tickets in the parking lot and around the coliseum area - if you needed two tickets, hold up two fingers as you walk through the lot and if you have tickets to sell, hold them high in the air. My dad loves to talk to strangers and we’d laugh as he constantly asked folks holding up tickets: “How many? How much? Where are they?” If they found better seats at face value, the dads would sometimes buy those and then sell our existing tickets. I learned more about supply and demand watching those transactions than I did in freshman economics.
I’ll touch more on the competitiveness and parity of the tournament as I go along, but those first several tournaments were tough for a young Duke fan. The Blue Devils were 2-5 in ACC Tournament games from 1993-1997, while only making the Saturday semifinals once in that span - maybe another reason why Friday was my favorite day.
Regardless, I loved every minute of watching so much basketball with my buddy and the dads. We saw some great coaches, players, and games over the years. Here are some thoughts that come to mind.
Coaches
It’s no surprise that Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith stand in a class by themselves in the ACC Tournament but it is staggering to see their dominance. It was cool to witness Dean win two tournaments as he wound down his career as one of the best to ever do it, before watching Coach K begin his run of ten titles in 13 years. Prior to 2023, the two Hall of Famers had combined to win 41% of all the ACC Tournaments - 15 titles for Coach K, 13 titles for Coach Smith, and 40 titles for all other coaches in league history. The next two coaches on the list are tied with four ACC Tournament Championships each. Can you name either of them? See trivia answer below. Bobby Cremins, one of my dad’s favorites, was the 1990 Naismith Coach of the Year while taking Georgia Tech and “Lethal Weapon 3” to the 1990 Final Four. Dave Odom of Wake Forest coached one the best players in basketball history in Tim Duncan and, in 1996, became one of only eight coaches to win back-to-back ACC Tournaments. Can you name the other seven? See trivia answer below. I could keep naming coaches I’ve enjoyed at the tournament for a while, and have a ton of respect for so many guys that have coached in the ACC. I love watching different styles of offense, how teams decide to guard the ball screen, ATO’s, and late game strategy. The ACC Tournament provided me the opportunity to see so many of these coaching decisions in person.
Players
The number of good players I’ve seen at the ACC Tournament is too long to even begin to list. In order to just touch on some of the names I got to watch in person over the years, I decided to look at AP All-Americans and ACC All-Tournament Teams.
I’ve seen 35 AP All-Americans at the ACC Tournament in the same season in which they were voted to the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Team. For example, Nolan Smith was voted to the AP 1st Team his senior season, but I didn’t attend the 2011 ACC Tournament, so he’s not on this list. I used the AP list since it goes 15 deep, my apologies to any player who may have been on another All-American list. The year(s) I saw them at the tournament as an All-American are listed in parentheses.
Bobby Hurley (Duke ‘93), Rodney Rogers (WFU ‘93), Eric Montross (UNC ‘93-’94), Grant Hill (Duke ‘93-’94), Joe Smith (Maryland ‘95), Jerry Stackhouse (UNC ‘95), Rasheed Wallace (UNC ‘95), Randolph Childress (WFU ‘95), Tim Duncan (WFU ‘95-’97), Stephon Marbury (GT ‘96), Antawn Jamison (UNC ‘97-’98), Vince Carter (UNC ‘98), Matt Harpring (GT ‘98), Trajan Langdon (Duke ‘98-’99), Elton Brand (Duke ‘99), Chris Carrawell (Duke ‘00), Shane Battier (Duke ‘00), Josh Howard (WFU ‘03), Julius Hodge (NCSU ‘04), Chris Duhon (Duke ‘04), Rashad McCants (UNC ‘04), Sean May (UNC ‘05), Raymond Felton (UNC ‘05), JJ Redick (Duke ‘05-’06), Shelden Williams (Duke ‘05-’06), Tyler Hansbrough (UNC ‘06,’09), Ty Lawson (UNC ‘09), Gerald Henderson (Duke ‘09), Toney Douglas (FSU ‘09), Jon Scheyer (Duke ‘10), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland ‘10), Jabari Parker (Duke ‘14), TJ Warren (NCSU ‘14), Malcolm Brogdon (UVA ‘15), Jahlil Okafor (Duke ‘15)
In addition to the AP All-Americans, here are 20 more names from ACC All-Tournament Teams I saw play in person that year. This list isn’t exhaustive - it simply includes All-Tournament Team players that I was particularly fond of watching. In an effort to stay somewhat concise, I’m going to leave Duke players off but just know that I love all those guys - Blue Devils on the ACC All-Tournament Team will be included in a future post.
James Forrest (GT ‘93), Travis Best (GT ’93), George Lynch (UNC ‘93), Harold Deane (UVA ‘94), Junior Burrough (UVA ‘95), Exree Hipp (Maryland ‘95), Tony Rutland (WFU ‘96), Greg Buckner (Clemson ‘96), C.C Harrison (NCSU ‘97), Shammond Williams (UNC ‘97), Terrell McIntyre (Clemson ‘98), Steve Francis (Maryland ‘99), Juan Dixon (Maryland ‘00), Terence Morris (Maryland ‘00), Marcus Melvin (NCSU ‘03), Jarrett Jack (GT ‘05), Jared Dudley (BC ‘06), Durand Scott (Miami ‘10), Joe Harris (UVA ‘14), Pat Connaughton (ND ‘15)
Games
1993 - Charlotte Coliseum
Having watched ACC basketball for a few years, I knew the league was good top to bottom, with any team capable of winning on a given night. But at my first ACC Tournament, I got to experience that fact firsthand. After UNC rolled over Maryland, the rest of the Friday quarterfinals saw Virginia beat #12 Wake Forest in the 4 vs. 5-seed matchup before Clemson downed #10 Florida State in the 2 vs. 7 game. Finally, Georgia Tech notched a three-point win over #8 Duke in the 3 vs. 6 contest. The Yellow Jackets, led by James Forrest and Travis Best, would stay hot and knock off eventual National Champion North Carolina 77-75 in Sunday’s title game.
1995 - Greensboro Coliseum
The 1995 tournament was incredible. Randolph Childress broke the ACC Tournament scoring record set in 1957 by Lennie Rosenbluth of North Carolina. Childress totaled 107 points in the three games, just a single point better than Rosenbluth. The semis included four teams ranked in the Top 12 nationally, with #7 Wake Forest defeating #11 Virginia 77-68 before #4 North Carolina took down #10 Maryland 97-92 in overtime. Childress went for 37 in the title game as Wake Forest won their first ACC Tournament since 1962 with an 82-80 victory over the Tar Heels in overtime.
1996 - Greensboro Coliseum
Bobby Cremins and freshman sensation Stephon Marbury led Georgia Tech to the ACC Regular Season crown, before falling to Tim Duncan and Wake Forest 75-74, when Marbury’s potential game-winner hit the side of the backboard. The 1996 ACC final is still one of only four championship games that did not include either Duke, North Carolina, or NC State.
1998 - Greensboro Coliseum
My first rivalry game in person exceeded my imagination in terms of atmosphere and energy, but the result was a disappointment. North Carolina pulled away from Duke in the championship game to win by 15. Despite the loss, I could now say I had attended a Duke/UNC game. Antawn Jamison was incredible. His game was simple but unstoppable and, except for that day, I loved watching him play.
1999 - Charlotte Coliseum
My second rivalry game was much more fun. This time around, Duke beat North Carolina 96-73 to win the championship and become the only ACC team to ever finish with a 19-0 record in conference play. William Avery led Duke with 29 points and soon-to-be #1 overall pick Elton Brand added 24 points and 13 rebounds.
2003 - Greensboro Coliseum
In the 50th edition of the ACC Tournament, Duke rallied from a 15-point deficit midway through the second half to down NC State 84-77 behind JJ Redick's 30 points. It was a conference record fifth straight ACC Tournament title for the Blue Devils and is a good candidate for a future re-watch.
2010 - Greensboro Coliseum
In another great example of parity at the ACC Tournament, 7-seed Georgia Tech beat Maryland who was nationally ranked in the Top 20 on their way to a berth in the Sunday title game. Duke outlasted 12-seeded Miami 77-74 in the semifinals. The Blue Devils had split with Georgia Tech in the regular season, losing in Atlanta early in January. Kyle Singler summed up his mentality as a player when he dove into Dan Shulman at the scorers table (Dickie V is the best). Jon Scheyer iced the ACC Championship with a 3-pointer in the final seconds and Duke won 65-61. The Blue Devils would go on to capture the 2010 National Championship as well.
Trivia Answers
Everett Case (NCSU) & Vic Bubas (Duke) - 4 ACC Tournament Championships each
Everett Case (NCSU ‘54-’56), “Bones” McKinney (WFU ‘61-’62), Vic Bubas (Duke ‘63-’64), Dean Smith (UNC ‘67-’69; ‘80-’81) Norm Sloan (‘73-’74), Dave Odom (‘95-’96), Mike Krzyzewski (‘99-’03; ‘05-’06; ‘09-’11), Roy Williams (UNC ‘07-’08)
Duke improved on that 2-5 tournament record (1993-1997) I mentioned earlier. In the subsequent ACC Tournaments I attended for the full slate (1998-2000, 2003, 2005-2006, 2009-2010), Duke went 23-1, with seven ACC Championships in those eight years. Win or lose, I had the same amount of fun every year (okay, maybe a little more fun after 1998), but the games aren’t what I remember most. Here are some final memories.
I remember my buddy and I playing h-o-r-s-e in the hotel room using a crumpled up piece of paper as the ball and a trash can as the basket. After a few games of horse, I’m pretty sure it turned into a one-on-one game resembling American Gladiators more than basketball. I’m definitely sure the dads had to tell us to be quiet about a thousand times before we actually went to sleep.
I remember stopping at Krispy Kreme on the way back from the last game on Friday night because the “hot sign” was on. We’d order two dozen glazed doughnuts - one dozen to share on the ride back to the hotel and a dozen more to eat for breakfast, although my breakfast doughnuts never seemed to make it to the next morning.
I remember getting Jerry West’s autograph on a ticket stub one year. He was at the tournament scouting players in his capacity as GM of the Los Angeles Lakers. My buddy’s dad pointed him out and helped us get his signature. I confess to not really knowing who West was at the time but my dad told me he was like the Michael Jordan of the 1960’s, so that was good enough for me. West’s autobiography, West by West, is one of my favorite sports books of all-time.
I remember laughing hysterically one year when we realized two of our seats were literally in the top row of the Greensboro Coliseum. My buddy and I hiked those steps for what seemed like forever. My dad loved to say “at least we’re in the building” before contradicting himself by proceeding to talk to every person in the parking lot until he found some better seats for the next session.
I remember the dads always wanting to leave the last game a little bit early to beat the traffic. It’s such a dad move - I hated it then but totally understand it now. When we did leave early, they had it down to a science. We’d dart out during the last media timeout and make it to the car in time to listen to the last four minutes. That’s when I first began to love listening to basketball on the radio.
I remember in 2005, my buddy and I went to the tournament for the first time without the dads. We were in college and drove up to Washington D.C. with a few of his fraternity brothers. Needless to say, we had way too much fun. On the way home Sunday evening, while stuck in D.C. traffic and taking shots of Pepto Bismol, we called my dad so he could tell us all about the NCAA bracket and who was seeded where, since we missed the selection show while in the car.
I remember in 2009, a different friend of mine (also a UNC fan) and I drove down to Atlanta for the tournament. I didn’t love the Georgia Dome as a basketball venue but Atlanta was fun. He awkwardly met Steve Kerr - shaking his hand while in a mob of people headed for the exits and simply saying, “hey Steve Kerr.” Later that night, my friend tried to keep me awake to continue watching the six overtime game between Syracuse and Connecticut in the Big East quarterfinals. Spoiler alert: I fell asleep.
I remember spending an hour or so before the first games each day in the pavilion outside the Greensboro Coliseum for “ACC Fan Fest.” You could wait in line to shoot a free throw on a replica court, the ACC Tournament trophy was on display, and you could get a picture made wearing your favorite team’s jersey. My buddy and I took a photo in UNC and Duke jerseys while holding a basketball - it’s hilarious and I’m devastated I couldn’t locate it to include here.
But more than anything, I just remember fathers and sons and friends getting to spend time together. I have loved going to the ACC Tournament as an adult with some other great family and friends, but those early trips were the best. Thanks again to my buddy and his dad for the invitation year after year, and thanks to my dad for always saying yes. I still can’t believe I got to go to eight straight tournaments. That’s 64 games and I definitely don’t remember them all. But, what I do remember is pretty special.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
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