ACC Network and ESPN Films are teaming up to produce a multi-part documentary on the history of the ACC Tournament.
The Tournament: A History of ACC Men’s Basketball Presented by New York Life will debut Monday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. ET following ACCN’s telecast of the Pitt-West Virginia game. Part 2 of the documentary will premiere directly afterward at 10 p.m. ET.
Two episodes of The Tournament will air each Monday at 9 and 10 p.m. ET through March 7. The 10-part documentary, spanning 1954 through 2020, will be the largest production of original programming for ACC Network since its launch in August 2019.
Here’s a look at the trailer for the docuseries:
For anyone wondering if the ACC Tournament warrants a multi-part documentary, consider the history and impact of the event. Beginning in 1954, the ACC was the first conference to determine its champion with a postseason tournament. And this was during an era when conferences received only one bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But the ACC Tournament also features the rich history of the conference with its many star players and iconic coaches. Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, David Thompson, Len Bias, and Tim Duncan are among the many to shine in the tourney. Of course, Dean Smith, MIke Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Jim Valvano headline the coaches who built their legends in those games. In addition, ACC play changed college basketball with innovations like the shot clock and three-point line.
The Tournament will also feature an ad campaign starring Grammy Award-winning rapper Rapsody leading viewers through ACC basketball history, the figures who made it, and the stories that will be told in each pair of episodes.
Filmmaker Jonathan Hock (who’s directed several 30 for 30 projects for ESPN Films among many documentary projects) and John Dahl (ESPN’s vice president and executive producer for original content, films, and special projects) are executive producers on the project. Emmy Award-winning director Larry Weitzman (NBA at 50, The Last Gladiators) helmed the longform series.
“After having the opportunity to work on the 30 for 30 Survive and Advance and later The Class That Saved Coach K, I was already a true believer in ACC basketball as the essence of the college game,” said Hock in the official ACCN announcement.
“But telling the story of the ACC Tournament from its very beginning was a journey of discovery for me and the whole production team, with every unopened film can revealing another treasure, and every interview bringing to life priceless stories. There’s no greater conference tournament in sports, and it’s all in here.”
“All we had to do was sit down with the wonderful characters who have created ACC lore, and the stories and the passion just poured out,” added Weitzman. “The challenge wasn’t finding enough fascinating material. The struggle was which amazing stories we would have to leave out.”
You can read a synopsis of each episode of The Tournament: A History of ACC Men’s Basketball at ESPN Press Room. The documentary premieres Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. ET.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
Great program your showing about ACC basketball …especially seeing old players interviewed. I grew up in Charlotte and watched ACC b.ball all the time especially from 1965 to 1968 during jr. high school (no middle school then)…always pulled for UNC. ..Duke a non-threat back then and you never had to worry about them getting past the second round. One of Duke’s players in the sixties named Bob Verga was a standout and great player in the ACC…remember seeing game at Charlotte coliseum abt. 1967 between Duke and Notre Dame and he shot the lights out…hardly remembered now unless you’re an old timer like me. Gil McGregor was first black to play for Wake Forest mid-sixties when Charlie Scott broke color barrier at Chapel Hill…great player but was in the shadow of Scott his whole college career, so nobody remembers him today…too bad. Coach Smith always referred to Scott as Charles, not Charley…someone started calling him Charlie and it stuck but never new how he took it. Mike Malloy played for Davidson College abt. the same time as Scott and their first black player. …always compared to Scott but a was a great player in his own right when Davidson was coached by Lefty Dresell who had great teams and nearly knocked off UNC in NCAA tournament. Davidson was small around 2000 students and all men…TV market too small for interest outside the area. Nobody liked South Carolina when they were in the ACC especially Frank McGuire who brought his NY thugs to rebuild program in his image. They played rough and got away with a lot since McGuire was still respected and had clout. Some of their big guys looked like giants who played basketball. Their big guys set screens like running into a brick wall. I went to North-South doubleheader in old Charlotte coliseum in 1968 and saw UNC beat SC one night and Clemson the next. SC left the floor before trophies were awarded…always sore losers. When Frank McGuire took over basketball program at SC he and his people started to call themselves “Carolina,” which didn’t set well with UNC people. Their radio and tv announcers also from NY. Like fighting the Civil War all over again. McGuire still held a lot of influence and was a big figure in college basketball plus SC was rebuilding a program in his image and the university gave him a long leash. One game I remember that stood out and is funny when you think about it in 1970 or so McGuire played Davidson. I’m sure he thought it would be an easy win and another notch on his belt. He couldn’t loose because David. was non-conference and even if he lost it wouldn’t make any difference in the conference standings.. Funny thing was Davidson clobbered them. A player for Davidson named Brian Adrian scored over 30 points by dismantling their defense single-handedly and would you know it he was a New Yorker! Surprise surprise. I called it a Davidson vs. Goliath game. He went on to become a a standout player in the SoCon and later had a basketball camp for a number of years …attracted future stars but I believe he passed away some years ago. McGuire’s personality was very different from Dean Smith. McGuire was rude, crude, sore loser, profane, and a complainer. Dean Smith was the opposite. I remember he and his team used to go to church services where my family went when they were in town. He was a good Christian man. sitting in church one Sunday when he and his entire team came in to attend services. I think once it was when the North-South Double-header was played. The left as quietly as they came in all wearing Carolina blue sport blazers with UNC stitched in white on the front pocket. I was fourteen years old at the time and thought it was one of the greatest things I ever saw. I asked my dad if he would go home and get my basketball for them to sign it but it was too late and he wasn’t going to do it anyway. Years later I was at Chapel Hill for a church visit and decided to find the team. Well, …well I talked my buddy into going with me and we went to the old gym and there they were at practice. We stuck our heads in the door and almost immediately Coach Smith was yelling at us to leave. Someone then came running up the stairs and slammed the door in our faces. ..maybe one of his assistants I don’t know…it shook us up but I came to learn later there was a reason for Coach Smith’s reaction. I still respected him despite that time. And we also got in trouble because no one could find us.
The ACC Tournament was so popular that the Charlotte schools let us leave class early to watch the games… city buses picked us up and took us to the old Coliseum for the firs round games. The best teams like UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest played in the evening and was hard to get a ticket unless you knew someone….the lower teams like Clemson and South Carolina played in the opening rounds…early afternoon …still, it was fun to get out of school early and watch a couple of games for free plus the bus ride was free. The afternoon games weren’t popular and you could almost sit wherever you wanted unless you got too close to the court and the usher would move you along.
Those were simpler times I remember most about the ACC…nothing like the ACC because it was all b. ball not like some of the others like the Big ten that are all football. Thank you for bringing back these memories because fifty plus years later and more they are as vivid as yesterday.
PS. I don’t remember when Billy Packer joined Jim Thacker on tv but before him it was Bones McKinney. I don’t know what kind of preacher he was but he sure knew his basketball.R.I.P. Jim and Bones.