Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 14, 1994 TAG: 9403140020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK and DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A meeting of the league's athletic directors last week at the ACC women's basketball tournament included 90 minutes of discussion on expansion.
"The feeling was, unless there was someone who could bring in financially the same amount each of our schools share now, why expand?" Corrigan said. "There aren't very many people around who can do that, and those that can probably aren't available."
Corrigan said that Big East expansion - adding West Virginia and Rutgers for all sports, but holding off Virginia Tech and Temple as football members only - differs "greatly" from what the ACC did in adding Florida State as a ninth member several years ago.
"We split our revenues equally among nine schools," he said. "That would take some leagues basically into a whole new area. Because of that, it would be very difficult for us to expand, and the [12-team] Southeastern Conference would be in the same situation."
Corrigan said that despite rumors that circulated in the Big East, there had been no consideration of West Virginia as a 10th ACC member. Florida also has been mentioned as a potential target.
"Why would Florida leave the SEC?" Corrigan said. "They have been in that conference for 60 years. They're a bellwether in that conference, especially when you consider their markets.
"Because of that, Florida may be the single-most important member of the SEC. That's why Florida State was attractive to us. And what about Florida's relationships? They've played Georgia forever. I don't think they'd want to walk away from that."
Corrigan, a former athletic director at Virginia and Washington and Lee, said he was "shocked" to hear that Virginia Tech wasn't accepted for all-sports status in the Big East. "I feel bad for them," he said.
However, he said Tech - particularly in an era when television all but dictates affiliation in college athletics - had a tough sell.
"People ask why Virginia Tech isn't in the ACC," Corrigan said. "It's a good institution with great people. But the question that has to be answered for any school is: What do they bring you?
"The Big East already has a solid basketball league, so for Virginia Tech to get in, Virginia Tech has to bring something to the table. That's what makes it tough."
\ KING FOOTBALL: A reporter with one Florida paper filed two stories Friday - the first a 15-inch report on the start of spring football practice and the second a 12-inch piece on the Seminoles' basketball loss to North Carolina.
Another Florida paper made a decision to have different writers cover Florida State's football and basketball programs because the football "beat" writer needed to concentrate on recruiting during the winter.
\ PARITY REIGNS: When North Carolina State defeated Wake Forest during the final week of the regular season, it marked the first time in ACC history that every team in the league won at least five conference games.
\ COACHING SCUTTLEBUTT: ACC assistant coaches linked with the vacancy at Furman include N.C. State's Al Daniel, Duke's Mike Brey and Tommy Amaker, and Georgia Tech's Sherman Dillard, who is from Bassett, Va.
Daniel played at Furman, which has been in the market for a head coach since Butch Estes resigned at the end of his ninth season. Former North Carolina guard Jeff Lebo, an assistant at East Tennessee State, is another possibility.
\ ODDS AND ENDS: Georgia Tech insiders say Travis Best is almost certain to return for his senior year, but forward James Forrest, the 1993 tournament MVP is a little more iffy. Others who may test the National Basketball Association waters are juniors Sharone Wright of Clemson and Bob Sura of Florida State. . . . Stacy Castle, a reserve guard for Wake Forest, is out for the season after undergoing thumb surgery. . . . Preseason ACC polls provided the least insight on Georgia Tech, which finished sixth after being ranked third, and Wake Forest, which took third after being picked seventh.
by CNB