ACC commissioner Jim Phillips press conference Wednesday at ACC Tipoff

I know we're right at that cross section of our 18 women's programs are finishing

up we're getting ready to to start our 18 men's programs um before we begin the

commissioner Forum I want to share a couple uh pieces of information um this

forum as well as our 36 team press conferences will be live on acc Network extra they'll also be available on

demand transcripts are provided by ASAP ASAP Sports um for those of you sitting

at the table there is a QR code on um some of the materials there encourage

you to use that there's some resources that it'll take you to our website um so feel free to to hopefully have that help

you um if you haven't already if you could silence your electronic devices it would be appreciated we are here to

assist you with whatever you need so please uh make sure to reach out to any of our ACC staff members if we can be of

help we'll begin today's Forum with a video and then remarks from ACC

commissioner Jim

Phillips

e e

good afternoon welcome to Charlotte for the 2024 ACC basketball tip off to begin

I'd like to thank each of you for your continuing coverage of the ACC the promotion and exposure you provide our

conference is deeply appreciated let me also take a moment to

acknowledge the devastation that occurred from Hurricane Helen and what has been forecast as a historical storm

in hurricane Milton our hearts and prayers are with everyone who's been or

could be directly affected as well as those with family and friends of loved

ones being impacted by these terrible tragedies consistent with this time of

year there's always an extra layer of energy and excitement we are Midway through our highly successful fall

Sports Seasons with number one ranked teams in field hockey women's soccer

men's soccer and volleyball as well as two football teams in the top 10 and

less than a month away from the start of ACC women's and men's basketball since my Forum remarks in

July the ongoing Evolution within College athletics continues was not

changed is the acc's position as a healthy and vibrant conference that competes at the highest level

athletically and one where our institutions provide every student athlete with a worldclass academic

experience during my remarks in the summer I spoke about the ongoing emphasis surrounding Revenue generation

we remain aggressively evaluating Financial opportunities including any area that potentially enhances our

conference revenues both in the immediate and long-term future of the

ACC one area of focus that many of you have reported on is the leak success

initiatives that began this fall this Innovative and Progressive new new

Revenue distribution model provides schools with the ability to earn additional revenues through football and

men's basketball based on success these dollars are in addition to the annual

per School distribution in August the NCA division one board of directors voted unanimously

to introduce a proposal that would financially reward participating women's

basketball programs beginning with the 2025 NCAA tournament

units for women's basketball is just one example of the elevation and appropriate

recognition of women's sports and an area I've been very vocal and supportive

of similar to the process for the additional revenues the conference receives in football men's basketball

and assuming that the vote during the NCA convention in January approves the additional revenues we are prepared to

include women's basketball as part of our ACC success

initiatives there's certainly great anticipation for the upcoming seasons of ACC basketball but before addressing our

league and teams let me take a moment to speak about a few areas you might be interested in Beyond

basketball the ACC continues to be Central in National discussions around identifying solutions to the countless

challenges facing College athletics and among the most pressing is the proposed

house settlement we are pleased that earlier this week judge wilin took the

first major step towards approving the settlement the agreement will provide unparalleled opportunities for student

athletes and offer much-needed transparency and structure on campus with the end goal being a sustainable

model for long-term future of College athletics to be certain we are laser

focused on the proposed new model we remain connected with our membership in providing clarity to our schools and our

student athletes creativity and Innovation remain vital to ensuring our schools compete and Thrive at the

highest level and because the house settlement cannot alone provide the full resolution that is desperately needed

our federal legislative efforts remain front and center including Congressional

help as I stated in July and is still consistent today with multiple ongoing

legal cases involving the ACC and two member School RS there remain limits to what I can share on the topic however I

will restate we remain confident in our legal position and are prepared for

long-term litigation what we will not do is let the ongoing legal processes distract us

from providing outstanding experiences for our student athletes teams and coaches at our 18 member

institutions now let's talk about ACC basketball but I do want to start by

asking everyone to join me in Remembering Remy Steines we lost Ry in August he was

taken far too soon he was a highly respected and dedicated official who served the ACC for 35 years including

officiating in 20 ACC and 17 NCAA men's basketball

tournaments a truly remarkable person let's take a moment to remember Ry and

his family

thank you ACC basketball the premier conference in all of men's and women's

college hoops is now just 26 days away and our 36 basketball programs will

strive to accomplish greatness we welcome the Cal SMU and Stanford

basketball programs as well as the seven first year head coaches four women's and

three men's Who start their respective ten years this year

ACC women's basketball enters the 2024 25 season with six ranked teams in

ESPN's way too early women's basketball top 25 we welcome back 14 of last season's

20 all ACC onor EES this includes five first team members and the ACC rookie

and Defensive Player of the Year this year's competition will be as

Fierce as ever and ACC women's basketball continues to be the the National Standard since 2014 the ACC

leads all conferences in Final Four Elite 8 and sweet 16 appearances as well

as NCAA tournament wins in addition over the last six seasons the ACC leads all

leagues with 48 teams participating in the NCA tournament the acc's 60 victories since

2019 also leads all conferences at least one ACC team has

advanced to the elite eight in each of the past 22 NCA tournaments which is the

longest streak of any conference with the next closest being at 14 and overall

10 of our current member institutions have played in at least one final

four ACC men's basketball continues to prove itself as the nation's top

basketball conference with another Dynamic postseason performance to close out last year as we enter the season two

of last year's five First Team all ACC players return overall the league

welcomes back its ACC Player of the Year rookie six-man and most improved players

of the year as well as the nation's lone returning first team consensus

All-American the postseason success for ACC men's basketball is well documented

last season four teams Advanced to the Sweet 16 and three to the Elite 8 with

NC State moving on to the fin final four the ACC had the most teams of any conference in both the sweet 16 and

Elite 8 last season in the last three years four different teams have advanced

to the final four and the ACC is 33 and 15 in the NCA tournament both the very

best of any conference since 2015 the ACC leads all conferences in Final Four appearances

with nine and NCA tournament wins with 111 which is 28 more wins than any other

conference six different ACC programs the most of any League have reached the final four since

2015 and the ACC has won three NCA titles from three different

teams and if you want to talk about sustained excellence and depth in each of the last five decades the ACC has led

the nation in either NCA tournament victories Andor Tournament winning

percentage before taking some questions I do want to share some specifics related to our League's vocal concerns

with the lack of recent NCA men's basketball bids despite undeniable success of our

teams last spring we initiated an extensive statistical analysis with

multiple experts regarding our scheduling this was inclusive of both conference and non-conference games and

how that impacts the NCA net rankings and selection process our League formed

working groups and engaged in countless discussions with with our head coaches and athletic

directors scheduling remains an important piece and collectively our teams have been aggressive as you look

at no November and December matchups you immediately note our teams playing in the most prestigious early season

tournaments as well as meaningful events and Marquee games throughout non-conference

play Beyond scheduling we've been focused on a number of other areas as

I've said before being one of only three conferences with a dedicated fully distributed national network is

significant ACC network is a differentiator and having it showcase

our basketball teams coaches and players into its daily programming is critical

we will continue to be aggressive with our television Partners in ensuring our accn talent coaches and players are

integrated across all of the ESPN platforms internally we've been working

with multiple Consultants as well as Bower our external efforts to make certain our coverage is appropriately

reflecting the talent and the teams we have in this outstanding League we've

connected with current and former members of the NCA committee and NCA staff to best ensure the conference and

our membership understands the metrics and system by which programs will be

evaluated and as a former member of both the men's and women's NCA basketball committee I understand this is extremely

important consistent with pre previous years and as part of the NCA basketball committee's process throughout the year

we will have regular communication and connection with NCA committee members from top to bottom this league has been

undervalued but it remains clear that the competition within the ACC prepares our teams for postseason

play as I said when I started to talk about ACC basketball both men's and women's we have been and continue to be

the premier conference I'm hopeful I was able to address your areas of interest and now I'm happy to take any questions

from the floor so I'll turn it over to

Amy as a reminder we've got a couple mic holders here we'll get to as many questions as we have but we do have a

hard stop because we'll be flipping this room to start the men's uh press conferences take our first question from

right here in the middle hey Jim TJ Wilkerson from the sports um nerd podcast women's

basketball is continuing to grow exped itially so my question is are we going to see even more services valued towards

showcasing women's basketball uh thank you TJ thanks for being here I will go back to maybe what

I just stated relative to women's basketball and the success that we've had but we have been aggressive with our

TV Partners not only our accn uh Network and what we're doing with women's basketball but with ESPN and the

platforms they have I think we have 27 games or so so women's basketball which is the most we've ever had um on several

different platforms the game is has never been better and more exciting I

think last year's NCA tournament attendance and NCA tournament viewership

said a lot where Women's basketball's gone and certainly our conference is to

me the Premier Women's basketball conference um that we want to we want to hold up that trophy at the end of the

year I am really proud of how we've built that so it really isn't a time to back off on what we're doing and the

support we're providing for women's basketball it's a really a chance for us to double down and that's what we've tried to do in the off season um working

with our partners take our next question here in the middle hi I'm Destiny Vance with the juice network uh my question to you

commissioner were there any concerns adding the new team to the conference did you say Destiny yes nice to see you

Destiny um there there there there really weren't um I go back to expansion

we looked at a lot of different options but I will say this we we really

explored and investigated at a high level what it would mean to bring in the three new three new schools uh getting

into the Dallas Fort Worth area and then obviously having to travel for uh teams

both ways in the Bay Area and in the end I I I really feel we've scheduled well

you know we've come up with travel Partners For the First Time and so when you go out to California the the teams

um that are on the East Coast they'll they'll play two games and when Cal Stanford come in this direction they'll

play two games I think it makes a lot of sense to do that uh we've gotten an

early kind of snippet view with our Olympic sports I think it's worked out pretty well but I'm sure it won't be

perfect I I I just know that because we've gone now outside of our footprint that we had for 71 years um and so we'll

we'll adjust and make some changes as we as we go into the future but so far so good I I feel really um solid about what

we've been able to do and in the end we'll we'll talk to the student athletes and get some feedback but excited about

um those three schools what they bring on the women's basketball side and on what they bring on the men's basketball

side next question over here on the against the wall he Mitch Northam um

just wanted to ask you you talked about the lack of men's basketball teams getting into the N tournament um that

really hasn't been a problem on the women's side you know eight last year could have been nine maybe 10 this year with the District of Stanford is there

anything that the men can learn from the women in terms of marketing themselves and putting that resume up and

scheduling to get more teams into the tournament thanks for the question Mitch

I I would say a few things that we've learned by looking at the women's scheduling but then also doing that

really deep dive on the men's side uh you have to schedule well and and it's

it's really important to play good teams and and I understand and we understand the net better I think the point

differential and some of that I think you're going to see some of that tweaked um by the committee Etc so you have to

play a good schedule and then whether we like it or not the narrative starts to get set in November and in December in

the non-conference games so we have to perform you know to me at a at a at a at

a you know a greater level um but I would say one of the things uh

that has occurred for us the last several years is we've had a draft at the bottom of the conference very very

directly where the bottom portion of the conference and and because of rebuilds

or new coaching situations or the transfer portal we've had some teams that have had really difficult Seasons

that has really influenced and has helped influence um some of those

rankings some of the metrics overall that that uh they're they're looking at and when I was looking at on the women's

side there there hadn't didn't seem to be nearly as much over the course of the last several years but in the end it's

about winning games it's about what we're going to continue to do with scheduling um and I I really believe the

bottom of our league won won't be maybe as bad or as in as difficult of a spot

as they've been the last several years and then we're going to be promoting in a in a heavy way we just have to we have

to tell our story better that's on me um and we we just have to do that relative

to the outlets that we have we have one of only three Networks networks Collegiate networks but then we have

this great partner in ESPN so I think you're going to see really that ratcheted up both on the men's side and

on the women's side this year we're going to go on the back to our left back row uh commissioner Eric spanberg with

the Charlotte Business Journal uh Curious so the 2027 NCAA men's first

round is coming to Charlotte you were a co- bidder with UNC Charlotte obviously because you're now based here and I'm

wondering whether what you think about going after women's final four or women's regionals Charlotte had one

women's final four in 96 and has not had any women's basketball tournament games since so what is your interest in that

area it's high Eric it's good to see you again um it's high now that we're settled and I I I you know very very

candidly while we were in transition about where we were going to move and where where our permanent kind of um

offices were I think we were a little hesitant to reach too far beyond not knowing what the future is but certainly

now that we're located here in Charlotte we've been here now for 13 months we have been more aggressive and I think

you're going to see that um I I'm not privy to give you all of what's happening but it only makes sense and I

think in order to to get and Chase championships you have to do some things in the first and second round or maybe

in the you know in the um uh sweet 16 Elite eight rounds Regional finals Etc

so we want to do that and and to that point I think a good barometer for us this

year will be having the men's basketball tournament in Charlotte for the first time since

2019 we'll have a chance to kind of get our feet wet back into to this community

see what works see what doesn't um a great partner with the Spectrum Center

Center and the City of Charlotte so I think you'll see that evolving specifically to what you said on the

women's basketball uh question going to come right down here in the front adri

Ben Porto SBJ uh you mentioned ACC basketball being you know quote unquote undervalued I guess can you expand on

that a little bit and kind of what what you mean by that and then also as you look at you know obviously the outsized

impact of football on on college sports and leagues in general how do you kind of balance that with also trying to grow

the basketball product uh as a whole as well okay that that's by the way uh Ben

poro is my traveling buddy this past weekend we pulled an allnighter at least I did I think he went to bed but we were

out of C and Stanford and Gall Game day and all the rest of it and there's a picture I wish I had my I wish I had my

phone with me because I'd have Amy put it up on the screen but we were traveling we had gotten up for college

game day was there four about 5 o'clock in the morning Pacific Time stayed and

then we went to Cal we went over to Stanford for their game against Virginia teeken football and then came and

crossed the bridge again and there was only one person in the car of six people that had kind of gone throughout the

whole day that was asleep and that was Ben poroy so I just want to know I just want to go on record with that anyways

um the first the first part of your question Ben um and you know I'm only season you so don't write anything

negative about what I just said uh I I just think we've been undervalued and

and I I I I stated the statistics of there th this is Premier basketball

conference and I know you don't get credit for past successes I get it I totally get it um but I I we we just

feel like the last five years or F last three years with five invitations each

of those five years is not reflective of the basketball that's being played in this league the coaches that are in this

league the student athletes and players that are in this league that are matriculating into the NBA and all the

rest of it from a player standpoint so we we have to fix it like that's not the committee's fault I've sat on the the

women's basketball committee and the men's basketball committee that's not we we have to be more intriguing and

deserve to be selected than maybe what we've done and that's why we we did a complete complete kind of rebuild and

look at this thing objectively don't be sensitive about it coaches don't be sensitive about if we call you out on

scheduling and some of those things so um I feel very good about it now we have

to go play now we have to go win games I think we have the structure in place we'll promote the heck out of our programs on the men's and women's side

we'll have great platforms for them to play on have to win have to win the the

second piece of that um if you repeat that maybe about football

Ben yeah that that's that's always the goal is you don't want to grow one at

the expense of the other and we've we've tried to do that simultaneously um I feel very good about

where we're at in football I I really do I mean we're one of three conferences that has two teams in the top 10 with

you know there's a uh 12 team playoff this year there's still a lot of season left but I I'd like the the way we've

gotten off especially you know several of our teams but you got to Market and you have to promote and you have to

absolutely address and support both of those programs or all three really

football and men's and women's basketball and I give our I give our uh schools an awful lot of credit cuz as I

travel around during the football season and we have regular communication with

our ads and and regular board meetings I'm hearing of the Investments I mean the most recent one as it relates to

maybe football is Georgia Tech you know $500 million with stadium and and

practice area and I think it's got a basketball practice Center attached to it and some of those things so um

campuses local decisions influence it a lot but from a commissioner level and from a conference level we try to

continue to keep everybody educated about what's happening not only in our conference but in the the industry it's

kind of a motivator for us we're going to continue with questions like I said we've got a finite period there's too

many questions in the queue but we'll keep trying to get through them let's take our next question from the left side of the aisle Josh Graham wsjs Jim

related to the net coaches have expressed concern with the 20 game conference schedule talking about lack

of flexibility with non-conference scheduling how open are you to potentially scaling back to 18 how open

is your television partner to that yeah Josh good good question good to see you and uh I I don't think you can be too

rigid right now especially especially for a league that's had 15 invitations

in the last three years we like to stay at 20 it makes a lot of sense um because

we're playing you know team we know the matchups are going to be good um two ACC

opponents against each other but I think you take it a year at a time and you look at it you try not to overreact with

maybe a a small sample size eyes um but uh I get I guess what I would just again

say I think you have to be flexible you have to be open-minded to it and we

we'll watch it this year I know our TV Partners like 20 uh conference games but I I also think you could you could make

some kind of um structure in those two games if you

went back to 18 you could mandate that they'd have to be against one of the

three or four or five best basketball conferences it'd have to have a certain maybe net ranking the year before I mean

I think you could structure in a way where it wouldn't go the opposite direction where coaches would would take

maybe the bottom cortile of rankings in the net um and and allow us still to

maintain that commitment to really trying to schedule uh in a in a you know in a

strong way so we'll watch it next question right here on the second row in the aisle Royal how the

juice network uh commissioner you mentioned briefly on speaking with experts on a valuating teams from top to

bottom in the ACC how confident are you that they will actually make the right decision of adding more teams into the

NCAA tournament after going through all the metrics the net rankings when we've had coaches previously give a lot of

frustration on teams not being selected in the tournament well I I trust the committee

I I I do having sat on men's and women's committees um before uh we have to do

our part we are going to overc communicate with them we are going to make sure that throughout the year that

we're telling our story about how well our teams are doing um I also think it

leads into maybe what you were alluding to maybe it's time for moderate slight

expansion to the tournament because I feel like we've been one of those conferences that's had one or two teams

every year that were on the bubble that fell on the wrong side um of the bubble

and I do want us to continue to look at that I I don't want to disrupt kind of the the gem of championships it's hard

to beat the NCA tournament both on the men's and women's side um but I am open to maybe expanding it just a tad that

creates just a few more opportunities next question right behind

hi Mark Burman of the row and Oak times uh to follow up on what you were saying about promoting the men's basketball

product better I guess it kind of makes it seem like you think the the Nel committee is susceptible to a to spin in

a PR campaign uh as opposed to just you know how you do in November and December

can you kind of explain you know what you think of uh promotions how you think that might actually sway an in sway

committee well I I I I think we have a lot of smart people um in college

basketball and I think the committee is a smart group of individuals uh they expanded the committee I think from 10

to 12 um people are PE whether I I don't know

you have to decide whether people are swayed with what you write or not and and what you state but I think it's a

for for us to utilize in order to tell our story maybe maybe they believe it maybe they don't maybe they listen to it

maybe they don't it will come down to facts um but I think you have to make sure that you're telling your story in a

position of strength and that's what I want us to do and and maybe you will feel indiv ually that maybe we only

deserve whatever number that is when we when we feel like we deserve one or two more than that uh so what I what I would

say to you is it will always come down to the facts it'll always come down to the metrics that are used to evaluate

you know your overall resume but it doesn't hurt when National people and

local people are talking about your particular programs so I want us to be able to do that this year at a higher

level than we've done in the past far left Corey Smith with pack pride in

247 Sports Jim you talked a little bit about the depth of the conference as well but what does it say about NC about

a team like NC State that finished you know started eighth and nth in the conference last year in the rankings to

be able to make it to the final four and and be able to make it at that point to get to the NCAA tournament even thanks

Corey glad you're here I think it tells you about the

league and I guess that's what I'm trying to State here today the league is really good and I think we have been

undervalued and if it wasn't for a bank shop from OK Connell right McConnell uh

NC State's not in the final four like you know that was a miracle shot but

they certainly strung together I want to say nine in a row at that particular time but we've had four different final

four teams in the last three years that tells you a a lot about the league and

sometimes I think I would also say we haven't been the beneficiary because I

think sometimes when people believe your brand schools your band brand basketball

programs aren't as good as they've maybe been in the past there's this kind of

thought process well maybe the rest of the league isn't as good and I don't think that that's necessarily a fair way

to evaluate it but tells you if you play in this league you have a chance and

even as most recently as you just described NC State who nobody nobody gave any opportunity to get even out of

maybe the first day or two of the ACC tournament let alone playing on the last weekend of the NCA

tournament last question right here in the front K Racine Sports media new

house Sports Media Center commissioner what role do you envision for the ACC in shaping the future of College athletics

especially with de about student athlete compensation the governance and the overall structure of college sports new

house Syracuse right glad you're here glad you're here the ACC will and

continue to be a leader in working together collaboratively on the future

of college sports and it's a it's a really good time to be a student athlete it just is and I think a lot of you know

I've had two in my family um one one currently still is a student athlete the other has graduated the benefits the

support the opportunity to monetize their name image and likeness the freedom of movement they have we want to

continue to allow that to happen but we have to be it has to be done in a structured way um in several different

areas we're reworking the governance structure we have to look look at a new way to handle infractions what are we

doing with our championships so there's work to be done and this early earlier

um ruling from Judge wilin as it relates to the house case starts us on that path

but I would just say we we have more questions than we have answers right now on the house case and others so it's

time to roll up our sleeves and push forward but at the heartbeat of all of this and you you've heard me say this

before if you peel away all of it it's about supporting young people at a

really important time in their life 18 to 22 or 23

um and knowing that a very small percentage of them are going to go play professional sports so whatever we can

do for all of them that large majority that doesn't and those that want to uh play professional sports and are good

enough to play professional supports have a great experience and feel supported at each of their

institutions thank you thank you thank you very much um as a reminder we will flip this room our first uh set amends

uh coach and player will be in here uh shortly again as a reminder if there's anything that we can be helpful to you

throughout