Years ago, the thought of holding an ACC tournament in Brooklyn would have seemed as strange and unlikely as having an Iditarod in Greensboro.
Then again, Frank McGuire would have loved the tournament there. Lorenzo Charles, too.
Imagine Jim Valvano, the consummate New Yorker, in an ACC tournament in Brooklyn. How cool would that have been?
With the tournament starting Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a first for the staid conference with a deep hoops tradition, here’s a look at some New York ties to North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke – and an historic moment – that don’t make it seem that strange after all:
UNC
Frank McGuire
The New York native played basketball at St.