CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The Latest from Wednesday’s ACC men’s basketball media day (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
As he’s done in the past at ACC media day, Miami coach Jim Larranaga wrapped things up with a story – this one featuring a recruit’s dog hit by a taxi cab.
On Wednesday, Larranaga recalled how he and fellow Virginia assistant Dave Odom were recruiting Tommy Sheehey, a high school standout from Rochester, New York, in the early 1980s.
Odom went to Sheehey’s home, put his gear in the trunk and the two climbed in the back seat as the cab took off.
Larranaga says, ”All of a sudden, you heard a dog crying. They had run over Tommy’s dog.”
The dog recovered and Larranaga says while that didn’t get the weekend off to a good start, Sheehey signed with Virginia and helped the Cavaliers reach the Final Four in 1984.
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4:40 p.m.
Virginia guard Kyle Guy says the memories of the his team’s landmark NCAA Tournament loss hit him hard walking into the Spectrum Center for ACC media day.
Last March, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament history to fall to a 16th-seeded opponent with their 74-54 loss to UMBC at the Spectrum Center.
The Cavaliers’ contingent stayed at the same hotel as they did seven months ago and things came flooding back to Guy when he walked through the door Wednesday and an attendant said, ”Welcome back.”
That’s when Guy recalled the game, the crowd and the feelings of loss after UMBC’s win.
But Guy says it’s part of the process of putting the loss behind them and using it as motivation this season.
He says, ”Hitting this head on and being back here to face my demons is easily the best thing for me.”
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4:15 p.m.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says the guilty verdicts in the trial for corruption within college basketball is good news and that people should be held accountable for wrongdoing.
The verdicts were handed down less than an hour before Krzyzewski began a round of Wednesday afternoon interviews during ACC media day. The Hall of Fame coach says he wanted to take time to ”digest it and figure out what it means for our sport,” but he also says, ”I would think that it means something good for our sport.”
Krzyzewski went on to say that it’s ”always good . if someone does something wrong, they’re found out – and they’re held accountable for it.”
The three defendants had been charged with funneling money to top prospects to influence their choice of school.
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1:45 p.m.
Injuries have hit Florida State and Syracuse and both could begin the season without injured starters.
The Seminoles say leading scorer Phil Cofer hurt his right foot at practice Tuesday and he missed his scheduled appearance at ACC men’s basketball media day. There is no timetable for his return. Cofer is a 6-foot-8, fifth-year senior who averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a year ago.
At Syracuse, there’s uncertainty about the status of forward Frank Howard.
He came to Charlotte wearing a protective boot on his left foot. Coach Jim Boeheim says Howard has been out for about six weeks due to what he described only as ”a foot problem.”
Boeheim says Howard is due back roughly at the start of the month but that will depend on his next examination set for Thursday.
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12:55 p.m.
Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford is hoping the NCAA takes action in response to court testimony during the first trials involving corruption in college basketball.
But he says it’s ”premature” to say what that should be right now.
Testimony during the New York trial included details of payments to families or representatives of college prospects in efforts to steer them to certain schools, including former North Carolina State one-and-done guard Dennis Smith Jr. and current Kansas sophomore Silvio De Sousa in the Big 12.
Kansas later announced it is withholding De Sousa from competition while it reviews his eligibility.
Swofford says he believes ”there does need to be some action” from the NCAA and he’s ”sure there will be.” He also says it’s unclear how the NCAA might use sworn testimony during an investigation.
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12:05 p.m.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner are expecting elite prospects to stick with college basketball instead of spending a year in the G League before going to the NBA.
The developmental league announced last week that it would begin offering ”select contracts” worth $125,000 next year to elite prospects not yet eligible for the NBA. It is unclear how those prospects would be identified.
Both Boeheim and Pastner noted teenagers could find themselves at a disadvantage against players several years older. They said the option could appeal to a prospect who might have trouble qualifying academically, but that top-tier recruits would still want to play in higher-profile college games.
Pastner says, ”You’re going to have probably a better chance to play well against college kids than against grown men in the G League.”
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11:15 a.m.
Pitt first-year coach Jeff Capel III first thought about becoming a coaching when his playing days were winding down two decades ago. No less a coaching authority than Capel’s father told him he was crazy.
Capel’s dad, Jeff Capel II, was a longtime coach at Old Dominion.
Capel said Wednesday at ACC media day that his father ”told me I was crazy.” He added that his dad told him, ”you should go to law school or something else.”
The choice does not seem so crazy now.
Capel was head coach at VCU and Oklahoma. He also was an assistant at Duke from 2011-18 before taking over the Panthers.
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3:05 a.m.
The Atlantic Coast Conference will open the season with seven schools ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll and a deep well of perimeter talent.
The league holds its preseason men’s basketball media day on Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina. That comes two days after the league had more teams than any other league in the AP preseason poll, with three of those in the top 10 in No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Virginia and No. 8 North Carolina.
Wednesday’s schedule includes a full day of interviews for league players and head coaches, which includes new arrivals Chris Mack at Louisville and Jeff Capel at Pittsburgh.
The league will release media picks for preseason favorite and all-conference players on Thursday.
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