March 8, 2001

ACC Tournament Page

By Chris Boyer
TheACC.com

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt has heard the claims of parity in college basketball. He has heard the arguments over which of the big time conferences features the highest level of play. In one year as head coach of an ACC basketball team, Hewitt is quick and definitive in adding his opinions to the debate.

"Make no doubt about it, in the other big time conferences I have been in, the Big East and even the Pac 10, when people are making comparisons about the best, everybody talks about the ACC. Out in the Pac 10, you don't hear any comparison among the other western conferences. It's always The ACC. Same thing in the Big East. The ACC is the pinnacle of college basketball."

The disappearing chasm between big time college basketball and mid-major play is a myth says Hewitt, formerly the head coach of Siena. "It's not nearly as close as people and the media think it is. The top teams in the mid-major conferences can compete with some of the middle-of-the-pack and bottom tier teams in the major conferences. In conferences like the Big East, Big Ten, and especially the ACC you are playing against great players every night."

In addition to the top playing talent, Hewitt knows he is going against the top minds in college basketball every game as well. "I am not slighting any of the coaches at mid-majors, but in this league alone we have some of the nation's cream of the crop coaches. Playing Virginia tomorrow, I feel like I am coaching against one of the best in the business. Pete Gillen is one of the best, period. Like most of the guys in the ACC, he has won everywhere he has been. He has won at Xavier, at Providence, and now in a very short time at Virginia."

In comparing ACC play with that of the Big East where he was an assistant to Steve Lappas at Villanova, Hewitt points to venues, recruiting and scheduling as the big differences.

"The style of play probably doesn't differ as much as the perception or maybe as in the past, but I think the real difference is in the arenas. The ACC has more on-campus venues, so I think the fans are a little more rabid. With fewer teams in the conference, we don't have to share the same recruiting base as much either."

"The other big difference is that the ACC, with nine teams, still plays a traditional round robin schedule where each team plays the others twice. In the Big East, where there are more teams, and not everyone has to play each other twice, it's a little less stressful. In our conference you play a team once and you know in a couple weeks, you are going to see them again. They are going to have a chance to make some adjustments, and they are going to have a chance to knock you off. That's what makes life difficult and extremely competitive in this league. I think the ACC and the Pac 10 are the only two high majors left who have the traditional round robin. That makes it hard because we in the ACC do not get rewarded for the difficulty of playing our double round robin."

Coach Hewitt notes how the smaller league really has an effect at ACC Tournament time.

"You look around the country yesterday and in conferences like the Big East or SEC, and you are seeing a five seed play a 13 seed. We're a five seed and we're playing the #12 team in the country. That's why a .500 record in this conference should get you into the NCAA Tournament as long as you have done everything outside of your conference, played a strong schedule, got some quality wins. I think a 7 - 9 record in the ACC should get you a lot of consideration."

Hewitt is anxious to state his case to the Tournament committee further, when he opens up his first ACC Tournament tomorrow against Virginia.

"Look around, 40,000 seats sold, great players, great fans. This is it. Every coach, every player wants to be a part of the ACC Tournament. The Final Four is the only thing better."