Jim Phillips Shares ACC Basketball Changes That Could Impact NC State
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CHARLOTTE — ACC commissioner Jim Phillips took the podium at ACC Tipoff to discuss the state of the conference with just over a month before the start of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons.
Several key changes are coming to the conference, several of which will have a major impact on both the NC State men’s and women’s programs. Phillips believes the ACC is the premier college basketball conference and pushed for some of the changes to rebuild the reputation and brand, as it experienced a slight downturn in the last few seasons.
Phillips' Quotes and Their Impact
The commissioner spoke about the decision to move the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament outside the state of North Carolina for the first time in 49 years, despite four member programs being from in the state. Wes Moore and his Wolfpack squad will have to go to Atlanta, assuming they qualify for the event at the end of the regular season.
- "We're trying to grow the game. This is about as good a time since I've been in college sports, to grow women's basketball in an exponential manner. We went to an open bid process, and we allowed everybody within our East Coast footprint to bid. And so there were no predetermined outcomes. And at the end of the day, the folks in the Greater Atlanta area, over at Gas South Arena, came up with a proposal that was outstanding."
- "The proof will be in the pudding. It is the first time that we're going outside the state of North Carolina for a neutral site ACC women's game in 49 years and so all eyes will be watching to see what happens. But I have great anticipation, and I feel very confident from all that I've seen and heard and witnessed, I was just down there two weeks ago, that it'll be a wonderful tournament as we continue to try to grow a game within our footprint."
Phillips announced that the player availability reports implemented for the 2025 football season will also be added as a requirement for conference play for ACC basketball programs. The field storming fines will also be added to basketball.
- "Institutions will submit a report no later than 8 P.M. the night before a conference game, and then again on game day, no later than two hours before tip. Both initiatives are directly connected to our ongoing commitment to safety and best protecting our student athletes."
The conference will move to an 18-game league schedule, dropping down for the first time in several years. Because of this move, Phillips and several committees were forced to decide which rivalries would continue on a yearly basis and which would be paused temporarily and dropped out of the cycle. Because of this change, NC State men's basketball won't play Duke and North Carolina twice, instead facing the Blue Devils and Tar Heels in lone home games.
- "We sat down and we looked at what are the must-have rivalries that we need to try to make sure that we continue, and then we're the ones that you know, from time to time, we will re-engage those rivalries before the next couple of years, we may have to take a bit of a pause."
- "... It also is a driver, quite candidly about trying to get more teams in the NCAA tournament ... So we've scheduled to prepare for teams to win an ACC championship and a national championship."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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