March 9, 2007

TheACC.com introduces you to the league's
athletes, coaches and administrators each week.

Fred Barakat
Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball
Atlantic Coast Conference
26th Year
Hometown: Union City, NJ
Favorite flavor ice cream: Peanut Butter Cup

How did you get started with the ACC?
I was the head basketball coach at Fairfield University from 1970-1981. In the closing years of my career, the Big East was beginning its preparations to start its conference. They picked their teams, and we weren't one of them. Prior to that time, we were all about equal up there. There were about 200 Division I teams and everybody played each other because there was no conference of sorts. At the time, Jimmy Valvano was at Iona and Mike Krzyzewski was at Army and they saw it coming, too. They both left a year before I did and came down to the ACC to start their new coaching careers. The last year of my coaching, 1980-81, I decided to start looking around for some new opportunities. Both Jimmy and Mike told me that they had recommended me to the commissioner (Bob James) and told him that I would be available if they would like to have a basketball coach in the conference office. They wanted someone to come in and oversee basketball operations and to look after the officials. So Mr. James came up and recruited me. He made three trips. I turned him down the first two times and the third time I decided to come down and visit. I fell in love with the city and the job seemed very interesting. So he created a job description that started with me supervising officials, but I would become the director of men's basketball operations and eventually take Skeeter Francis's place as the tournament manager. So with that criterion in place, I decided to take the job.

I played for Assumption College in Worcester, from 1957-1961. In high school I played football, basketball and baseball. I was an all-county, all-state player in two sports, mostly my strength was in basketball and baseball. I received a lot of basketball and baseball scholarships. Every summer I would go up to (Bob) Cousy's camp in New Hampshire. At night after the kids' games were over, the counselors would play. In those years, the Boston Celtics would come to Cousy's camp and do their Rookie Camp with some of their veterans. Red Auerbach would be up there and Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, John Havlicek, Casey Jones, Sam Jones and Heinsohn. I would play with them at night, under the lights.

I started there as a freshman, I played baseball and basketball. I was a four-year starter and captained both teams in my junior and senior years. I made All-New England and All-American and I got drafted by the New York Knicks. I also got drafted by the Giants in baseball.

The greatest thing that happened to me was going to Assumption. It was a small school, about 600 students, all men, run by the Assumption priests. Me, as a kid out of Union City, NJ, it was the structure that I needed. It was very, very closely monitored by the priests and the professors. I had a tremendous roommate by the name of Jim Bill, who was there on a full academic scholarship and he taught me how to study. He introduced me to academics. He took me to the library every night and we stayed there until midnight. He taught me how to pick out the important information. It was a great experience. He went on to Princeton, got his Master's and his Doctorate. Now, he is one of the leading experts on Iranian Politics. He is head of the International Studies program at William & Mary. He went there from the University of Texas where he was the head as well. He is a terrific guy and probably the main reason for my getting introduced to the academic world. It was a tremendous opportunity that I took advantage of.

I tried out with the Knicks and I got cut. Unfortunately, when I tried out, there weren't many NBA teams in the league. So it really wasn't a great opportunity for me. So I started teaching school in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. I coached some basketball and baseball and some football there. I started going to school at night to get my Master's in Psychology and Guidance. I started playing in the Eastern League, which is now known as the Development League. It was the minor league for the NBA. I played on weekends there, that's all you had to do was show up on weekends and play. I did that for a few years. I wanted to get out of the classroom, so I started to apply for fellowships. I received a full fellowship to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My wife and I had just got married and we decided to take it. So we had shipped our furniture out to Madison. My coach Andy Laska called in July of 1966 and said, "I would like you to come back here. We have an opportunity for you and would like you to come back." We had a decision to make. So we re-routed our stuff from Madison to Worcester, MA, to Assumption, my alma matter.

In 1966, I was the head tennis coach, head soccer coach, assistant basketball coach, Phys. Ed. instructor, sports information director, equipment manager, trainer and I taught in the Master's program to the nuns in the summer. This will blow your mind, what my salary was: $6,500, and that's with a child and a wife. So people say you have to start small and stay with it, I did! So I stayed there for five years, then I got the assistant's job at the University of Connecticut. We won the Yankee Conference Championship that year. Then I got offered the head coaching job at Fairfield University in 1970. I stayed at Fairfield from 1970 to 1981.

What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?
Hopefully it has been that I have made an impact. I'd like to think that I am a visionary and an innovative person. I have always tried to help the further the development of basketball for our conference -enhancing the tournament, improving basketball operations at the individual schools, developing non-conference and television scheduling. Hopefully, my presence at the ACC over the past 26 years has made it better for our student-athletes and enhanced their lives with the experiences they had in the ACC.

Who was your most influential role model?
I had several people who took an interest in me. I think my college coach, Andy Laska was probably my most influential role model because he came into my life at a time when I needed a man in my life that I could look up to. He mentored me and took me under his wing and for those four years in college, he was the closest thing I've ever had to a father. He was the best man in my wedding. He's the one that got me back to Assumption and started me on my collegiate career. I would say he was the most influential. Andy is a great man.

How has men's basketball in general changed since you started?
Well if you look back to 1982 when North Carolina won the finals over Virginia in a slow-down game, they won 47-45. They were some of the finest players, not only in college basketball but probably professional basketball: James Worthy at North Carolina, Sam Perkins, Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson. You had players of that caliber in the game and both coaches were holding on to the ball. Instead of running up and down and shooting and jumping and scoring, both teams held the ball. Almost the whole last quarter of the game, no one did anything, they stood there. That's the first time I really got to see a game of that nature, for 40 minutes. No less, in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which was the premier conference in the country. With the best coaches and the best players and here they are holding the ball. I mean, I was one year into the league and I'm saying, "This is not what I thought." Subsequently it spurred the experimentation with the shot clock and the three-point shot. I think that was an important game in history, because our game has gotten so much better with the addition of the shot clock and the three-point line. So I would say the biggest change started right after 1982, because of that game.

What's your most memorable moment in ACC sports?
There's not one particular sports moment. Just being a part of the ACC; Being part of the premier basketball conference in the country; Feeling the passion and the emotion and the pageantry of this league; The devotion of the fans to this league, that all goes into one pot.

But, the one great thrill that I had was when I managed the tournament in the Georgia Dome in 2001. We set a record, of 182,525 fans. I'll never forget that number. For the championship game we had 40,000 people and that is without a public sale. The event had the air of a Final Four. I know Coach K said afterwards that that event was like any Final Four that he had ever been in, perhaps better. It was a tremendous compliment. And a tremendous semi-final game in that tournament between Duke and Maryland. They also met in the Final Four and Duke won the NCAA Championship that year.

It was a real good moment for me because of the enormous magnitude of the event. In that semi-final game, I'll never forget the Duke player, Nate James, coming out of nowhere. The ball is coming off the rim from a missed shot and he came running in and tips the ball in for an 84-82 win over Maryland in the semi-finals. To me, that was the championship game. It was unbelievable. That probably was one of the great basketball moments.

Because the other aspects I talked about go back to having the opportunity to be part of the Atlantic Coast Conference; Having the opportunity to create a legacy; Having the opportunity to be with this great conference; Having the opportunity to make the acquaintances and the relationships with the fabulous Athletic Directors and Faculty Reps and Commissioners; I've worked for three of the four commissioners in the league. Overall, it would be just me being a part of this great conference.

What is your favorite part about the ACC's Men's Basketball Tournament?
Two parts. One is the preparation for it, working out all the details. The little things that keep you out of trouble once the tournament starts. Having everything in place. Meeting with the venue people. This year we met with the people in Tampa 12 times.

Then the other part is when it's over. The feeling that it was hopefully a wonderful experience for our student athletes and all the fans that were in attendance. They leave here, no matter whether their team won or loss, saying, "What a terrific event. Wow, that was fun." I think there are two parts, the front part and the end part.

The middle part is always fun as well.

What will you miss the most when you retire?
I think basically what I just said: The relationships that we made, with the ADs, the Commissioners, the Faculty Reps, the basketball coaches, the staff here at the conference. I think I'll miss all of that on a day-to-day basis. Having the inter-play, the telephone conversations, the meetings, the friendships with the television partners, the Raycom people and the Lincoln Financial people. Over 26 years, I've made a lot of friends and had a lot of good support relationships. It has made my job so much easier. I think I will miss all of that.

Upon your retirement, how do you hope to be remembered throughout the conference?
Hopefully they remember me in terms that my presence here made a difference; that I improved the quality of basketball in the conference.; that they look at me as a person that had vision and innovative ideas and I was able to put them into practice. But I thank the conference most of all for giving me the latitude to do those things. I wasn't held down, there wasn't a hammer over me that said "no." They gave me the freedom to work with the basketball operations and TV scheduling and do it in a professional way, and in a way that they felt represented this conference in a first-class manner.

I love the ACC - it has been my passion for 26 years and I'll always be indebted to Commissioner Bob James who hired me and gave me the latitude to start and develop my career. My definition of success is based on three things: 1) to get the most out of your potential; 2) to gain the respect of your peers; 3) to make a contribution to the society in which you live.

Hopefully, under this definition, I've been successful.