From Mike Krzyzewski to Jim Boeheim and Daryl Gross to John Swofford, everyone had something to say about Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving the Big East and joining the Atlantic Coast Conference:
“As a comprehensive, all-sports conference, the ACC provides Syracuse tremendous opportunities for quality competition and growth in all sports, while also renewing some of our historic rivalries. This move will also bolster our continued efforts to look outward, engage and extend Syracuse’s reach to key areas of the country, including the Southeast, as we grow and expand our national connections to alumni, partners and the students of the future. We are pleased that Syracuse adds a New York City dimension to the ACC, a region in which we have built strong identity and affinity, and we look forward to bringing ACC games to the Big Apple. Overall, for Syracuse, this opportunity provides long-term conference stability in what is an uncertain, evolving and rapidly shifting national landscape.”
– Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor
“The ACC has enjoyed a rich tradition by balancing academics and athletics and the addition of Pitt and Syracuse further strengthens the ACC culture in this regard. Pittsburgh and Syracuse also serve to enhance the ACC’s reach into the states of New York and Pennsylvania and geographically bridges our footprint between Maryland and Massachusetts. With the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will cover virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States.”
-Duke University President Richard Broadhead and chair of the ACC Council of Presidents
“In the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics, each school has to find the best fit. The Atlantic Coast Conference has a great basketball tradition and we look forward to contributing to that.”
-Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim
“I am excited for the University, our athletics program and our student-athletes. Joining the Atlantic Coast Conference puts us in a strong position for the future. The ACC has quality schools academically and athletically. I look forward to competing against them.”
-Syracuse football head coach Doug Marrone
“Today is a day that we will remember for years to come. We are truly excited that academically and athletically we will be a member of the ACC, one of the nation’s premier collegiate athletic conferences. As New York’s College Team, we plan to compete at the highest level across all of our sports and help to enhance this great conference.”
-Daryl Gross, Syracuse University Director of Athletics
“I am so proud of John Swofford and the leadership of the Atlantic Coast Conference being proactive at a time of tremendous change in intercollegiate athletics. For us to have such strong leadership in place within our conference is magnificent. The addition of two prestigious academic institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University, coupled with their great tradition in athletics, is a real coup for the ACC.”
– Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University and USA National Team Men’s Basketball Coach
“Under the visionary leadership of Commissioner John Swofford, the Atlantic Coast Conference grew significantly stronger with the addition of two tradition rich and principled institutions. Both the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University are at the forefront of academic achievement and college athletics. At a time of instability in college athletics, the foresight of the ACC presidents has secured the conference’s future. To be sure, from the Duke perspective, we are ecstatic about the addition of these extraordinary institutions. Pittsburgh and Syracuse provide the best fit — at the right time — for the ACC.”
-Kevin White, Duke University Vice President & Director of Athletics
Check back on Monday for more coverage of Syracuse joining the ACC.
