JAMES J. PHILLIPS: Welcome to day two of this year's ACC tip-off. Before I get started, I wanted to say something about the passing of Tasha Butts. Some of you may know Tasha. Some of you may not. Tasha Butts most recently was an assistant and then associate head coach at Georgia Tech. Was a great player at Tennessee.
I had a chance my first assistant AD job, had a chance to meet Tasha. She was a student-athlete there. Had a great playing career at Tennessee, played professionally, and then became an assistant coach, and her dream was to be a head coach.
She got that dream last March when Georgetown hired her, and she passed away on Monday after a long battle with breast cancer.
I had not seen Tasha in nearly two decades after I saw her on the campus at Tennessee, and she was just so full of life and just such a special woman and a special person, and oh, too young.
I had a chance to talk with the women's coaches yesterday and said the same thing, so I appreciate you letting me start today. But I think it's a reminder of the frailties of life, but just how powerful people are, and I know Tasha leaves an unbelievable legacy, so our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Butts family.
Thank you for allowing me to say those words.
Listen, yesterday was a terrific first day of ACC tip-off, showcasing our 15 amazing women's basketball teams. During the summer, I think a lot of you know, Jackie Carson joined our team as a senior associate commissioner for women's basketball, and she's done a tremendous job in her first three months.
We also hired Barbara Davis from the Big East as our director of women's basketball, and we know their additions will be extremely beneficial to the ACC and its membership.
Yesterday we also welcomed Tory Verdi, who was named Pitt women's basketball coach last spring, and the day was a chance to celebrate what makes ACC basketball so special. Our student-athletes, coaches and programs.
We're extremely proud to head into the season with the nation's best seven teams ranked in the USA Today coaches' poll. The collective strength of ACC women's basketball has been well-established. Consider our postseason success.
First, we led all conferences in 2023 with eight NCAA Tournament teams. Last year marked the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament in which eight teams were selected, also the most of any conference in that span.
ACC teams have made five trips to the Final Four in the last five NCAA tournaments with Virginia Tech representing us last year.
Nine different institutions have represented the ACC in the women's Final Four. The ACC is the only conference to have at least three teams in the Sweet 16 in each of the last nine NCAA tournaments.
Finally, the ACC also owns the most NCAA Tournament wins, 119, of any conference in the last decade of competition.
Pretty remarkable.
After spending a full day with our student-athletes and coaches yesterday, I assure you there's incredible excitement, and it's going to be a season for all of us to remember.
Today we turn our focus to ACC men's basketball, and we know there's never a shortage of anticipation for our teams and our conference. This year, we welcome three new coaches to the ACC sidelines: Georgia Tech's Damon Stoudemire, Notre Dame's Micah Shrewsberry and Syracuse's Adrian Autry.
Our men's basketball teams continue to excel. The ACC has captured three of the last eight NCAA championships with 99 NCAA Tournament wins in that span. Current ACC schools have won eight NCAA titles in the last 22 tournaments and own 17 National Championships overall.
Our schools have combined for 67 men's Final Four appearances and a nation's best 664 NCAA Tournament wins, and the league owns the highest all-time NCAA tournament-winning percentage of any league, 618.
All 15 ACC league members own a staggering 1,000 or more all-time wins, including eight schools with 1,500 victories or more.
Finally, four of the top eight and six of the top 30 winningest programs in the NCAA Division I basketball history reside right here in our conference, the ACC.
We understand the bar is always set high for the ACC, including in men's basketball, and I'm incredibly confident our teams will once again rise to that occasion.
A lot has happened since we were together this summer at ACC kickoff. It's always terrific to see so many of you during my travels to our campuses and to our other events. The ACC and its membership continue to be national leaders.
Academically the ACC once again leads all FBS conferences in this year's U.S. News and World Report Rankings. Athletically no Power Five conference offers more than 28 sponsored sports, and our 15 women's offerings lead all.
Our programs have won more NCAA National Championships than any other conference in each of the last two years. Currently, six programs this fall are ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective sports, the most of all conferences.
The ACC has won seven National Championships in football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball since 2015, and is the only conference to win each of those four titles over that stretch.
The ACC and its membership have so much to be proud of and the last two months have been monumental.
Our new conference office headquarters are just a few blocks away, and although we knew being a part of the Charlotte community would be incredible, it has exceeded our expectations.
I invite you to come and see our operation at Bank of America Tower on the 12th floor, see our state-of-the-art facilities.
As a league we launched the ACC's new brand campaign: Accomplish greatness. Amy Accola did an amazing job, and you're starting to see that pop up on our network and you'll see that throughout the year.
It's been embraced by our schools, and in the next week we will roll out our television spots and initiatives surrounding ACC basketball.
As all of you know, on September 1st, we welcomed three world-class institutions and athletic programs to the ACC family: Cal, SMU and Stanford joining us next summer.
The decision by the ACC board of directors strengthens the ACC both now and in the future, and it benefits each of our current institutions.
Throughout the entire process of exploring potential expansion, the priorities were to enrich and strengthen the ACC athletically, academically, and financially, while also enhancing the overall league stability and the board's ultimate decision achieves all of those priorities.
There's much more I could say with you this morning, but let me just tell you again, I appreciate all of you being here. I'll stop at this point and be happy to take any of your questions.
I had a chance my first assistant AD job, had a chance to meet Tasha. She was a student-athlete there. Had a great playing career at Tennessee, played professionally, and then became an assistant coach, and her dream was to be a head coach.
She got that dream last March when Georgetown hired her, and she passed away on Monday after a long battle with breast cancer.
I had not seen Tasha in nearly two decades after I saw her on the campus at Tennessee, and she was just so full of life and just such a special woman and a special person, and oh, too young.
I had a chance to talk with the women's coaches yesterday and said the same thing, so I appreciate you letting me start today. But I think it's a reminder of the frailties of life, but just how powerful people are, and I know Tasha leaves an unbelievable legacy, so our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Butts family.
Thank you for allowing me to say those words.
Listen, yesterday was a terrific first day of ACC tip-off, showcasing our 15 amazing women's basketball teams. During the summer, I think a lot of you know, Jackie Carson joined our team as a senior associate commissioner for women's basketball, and she's done a tremendous job in her first three months.
We also hired Barbara Davis from the Big East as our director of women's basketball, and we know their additions will be extremely beneficial to the ACC and its membership.
Yesterday we also welcomed Tory Verdi, who was named Pitt women's basketball coach last spring, and the day was a chance to celebrate what makes ACC basketball so special. Our student-athletes, coaches and programs.
We're extremely proud to head into the season with the nation's best seven teams ranked in the USA Today coaches' poll. The collective strength of ACC women's basketball has been well-established. Consider our postseason success.
First, we led all conferences in 2023 with eight NCAA Tournament teams. Last year marked the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament in which eight teams were selected, also the most of any conference in that span.
ACC teams have made five trips to the Final Four in the last five NCAA tournaments with Virginia Tech representing us last year.
Nine different institutions have represented the ACC in the women's Final Four. The ACC is the only conference to have at least three teams in the Sweet 16 in each of the last nine NCAA tournaments.
Finally, the ACC also owns the most NCAA Tournament wins, 119, of any conference in the last decade of competition.
Pretty remarkable.
After spending a full day with our student-athletes and coaches yesterday, I assure you there's incredible excitement, and it's going to be a season for all of us to remember.
Today we turn our focus to ACC men's basketball, and we know there's never a shortage of anticipation for our teams and our conference. This year, we welcome three new coaches to the ACC sidelines: Georgia Tech's Damon Stoudemire, Notre Dame's Micah Shrewsberry and Syracuse's Adrian Autry.
Our men's basketball teams continue to excel. The ACC has captured three of the last eight NCAA championships with 99 NCAA Tournament wins in that span. Current ACC schools have won eight NCAA titles in the last 22 tournaments and own 17 National Championships overall.
Our schools have combined for 67 men's Final Four appearances and a nation's best 664 NCAA Tournament wins, and the league owns the highest all-time NCAA tournament-winning percentage of any league, 618.
All 15 ACC league members own a staggering 1,000 or more all-time wins, including eight schools with 1,500 victories or more.
Finally, four of the top eight and six of the top 30 winningest programs in the NCAA Division I basketball history reside right here in our conference, the ACC.
We understand the bar is always set high for the ACC, including in men's basketball, and I'm incredibly confident our teams will once again rise to that occasion.
A lot has happened since we were together this summer at ACC kickoff. It's always terrific to see so many of you during my travels to our campuses and to our other events. The ACC and its membership continue to be national leaders.
Academically the ACC once again leads all FBS conferences in this year's U.S. News and World Report Rankings. Athletically no Power Five conference offers more than 28 sponsored sports, and our 15 women's offerings lead all.
Our programs have won more NCAA National Championships than any other conference in each of the last two years. Currently, six programs this fall are ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective sports, the most of all conferences.
The ACC has won seven National Championships in football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball since 2015, and is the only conference to win each of those four titles over that stretch.
The ACC and its membership have so much to be proud of and the last two months have been monumental.
Our new conference office headquarters are just a few blocks away, and although we knew being a part of the Charlotte community would be incredible, it has exceeded our expectations.
I invite you to come and see our operation at Bank of America Tower on the 12th floor, see our state-of-the-art facilities.
As a league we launched the ACC's new brand campaign: Accomplish greatness. Amy Accola did an amazing job, and you're starting to see that pop up on our network and you'll see that throughout the year.
It's been embraced by our schools, and in the next week we will roll out our television spots and initiatives surrounding ACC basketball.
As all of you know, on September 1st, we welcomed three world-class institutions and athletic programs to the ACC family: Cal, SMU and Stanford joining us next summer.
The decision by the ACC board of directors strengthens the ACC both now and in the future, and it benefits each of our current institutions.
Throughout the entire process of exploring potential expansion, the priorities were to enrich and strengthen the ACC athletically, academically, and financially, while also enhancing the overall league stability and the board's ultimate decision achieves all of those priorities.
There's much more I could say with you this morning, but let me just tell you again, I appreciate all of you being here. I'll stop at this point and be happy to take any of your questions.
