He may be gone, but Coach Gary Williams still has the best interests of the ACC at heart. Speaking to the media before Maryland Madness on Friday night, Gary addressed the recent spate of conference realignment and the ACC’s decision to add Pitt and Syracuse to the conference. Williams was supportive of the conference’s proactive movements to add two more universities, albeit for football reasons.
Via Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times:
“I think this is different than the last time they expanded and the basketball coaches voted 9-0 not to expand. You can see the clout we had in the ACC. I think it’s very important, basketball-wise, that you get Syracuse and Pittsburgh in the league. The ACC’s right back as as good a conference when those guys come in. Really, I think a great football team, if there is further expansion, would be very important to the league just looking at the league overall.”
As with some of the other heads of state at other traditional basketball powers in the ACC, Williams clearly understood the football-driven movements behind expansion.