Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim didn’t mince his words when asked whether the ACC Tournament should return to its original home on a regular basis.
Boeheim on the ACC Tourney:
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 8, 2017
"There's no value to playing in Greensboro. None."
Greensboro, N.C., has hosted the ACC Tournament 28 times since 1967, and the tradition became a staple of city. Since 2015 the tournament has traveled to other cities close to ACC schools, and won’t return to Greensboro until 2020.
The city didn’t take kindly to Boeheim’s remarks, so it went for the one-punch knockout.
.@AdamZagoria @ACCSports We kindly disagree. But I guess you can lose in the 1st round anywhere. At least it's a quick ride home.
— City of Greensboro (@greensborocity) March 8, 2017
This is a solid, solid burn from an official city account. The timing was impeccable, too. Syracuse was eliminated by Miami in the first round this year and hasn’t won a game in the ACC Tournament since joining the conference in 2013.
Boeheim and Greensboro have a history. In 2014 the topic of the tournament location came up and he showed no love for the long-time ACC host city.
"We're looking forward to the challenge of the tournament," he said today. "It's always important when you play in a tournament that they have a basketball court and an arena. They've got that in Greensboro."
We’ll continue to monitor the war of words between the Syracuse coach and an entire city.
Update: Greensboro-based Our State Magazine is doing its best try and smooth things over.
AN IMPORTANT OUR STATE MESSAGE @therealboeheim pic.twitter.com/3RjQTx5Gym
— Our State Magazine (@ourstatemag) March 9, 2017
Update 2:
Greensboro’s minor league baseball team has gotten involved now, too.
Oh my, the @GSOHoppers are out here eviscerating Boeheim. pic.twitter.com/9hD93mU3tY
— Josh Graham (@_JoshDGraham) March 9, 2017
This is an onslaught.
Update 3:
Jim Boeheim is trying to make things better with the people of Greensboro.
"The people in Greensboro treat us better than any place that I've been," Boeheim said. "I've been to New York; I've been to Connecticut for a tournament; I've played the tournament in Providence; I've played tournaments in Washington, D.C.; and we've played in a lot of NCAA tournaments. The people in Greensboro treat you better than any place."