A 4:50 a.m. alarm, a two and a half hour drive and a half an hour lost just blocks away from the venue— the morning makeup of my first time at the ACC Basketball Media Day.
Today, Sports Editor Brooke Pryor, fellow Assistant Sports Editor Grace Raynor and I all trekked down to Ritz-Carlton in downtown Charlotte for the day, greeted by legendary coaches, players who traded in their shorts and Nikes for polos and dress shoes, and blessed with a handful of souvenirs in the form of media guides and ACC apparel, .
And while I could be on my way back home to Maryland as we speak, I could not think of any better way to spend my first day of Fall Break.
Here’s some of my awkward and funny, but most importantly memorable, experiences from my first-ever media day:
Swappin’ recorders
The way the interviews at media day works is players and the head coach from each team are brought into a large room a handful at a time. They then sit at their own table designated by an ACC sign with their name and team logo.
Reporters are free to come and go as they please to talk to the players and coaches. Given that most of the interviews are done in a group setting, reporters’ recorders flood the tables athletes and coaches sit at.
What I didn’t know is, the one I use — an Olympus VN-702PC — is pretty a pretty hot commodity in the reporting world.
After getting all that I needed from Virgnia guard Joe Harris during the player interview portion of the day, I grabbed my recorder and started to head over to his teammate, senior forward Akil Mitchell.
But one of the reporters stopped me to say, I took her recorder. I apologized, put the one I had in my hand down and pressed the record button, then took the other and headed on my way.
After taking a quick glance at it, I noticed that there were 90 audio files stored on the recorder.
But wait? I just cleared everything off of mine … it wasn’t my recorder.
Just picture the fact that this interaction took place over Harris’ shoulder as he was trying to answer questions. Rude? A little. Was he chill about it? Of course.
Note to self: recorder personalization, which includes bedazzling, is a must.
Going out with a bang
Some of the funniest moments of my day came out of interviews with junior guard Nick Faust and head coach Mark Turgeon from Maryland, which is entering its final basketball season is a member of the ACC.
With the addition of three new schools to the conference this year — Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh — Baltimore, Md. native Faust will be reunited with some fellow Marylanders in the likes of the Fighting Irish point guard Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant.
But are they friends or foes to Faust?
“I actually played them my freshman year,” he said. “We beat them.”
What about his thoughts on the Terrapins departing the ACC? This back-and-forth with a reporter tells it all:
Faust: “I feel like the ACC is a great league.”
Reporter: “A great league or the greatest league?”
Faust: “There is no greatest league, is it?
Reporter: “I don’t know.”
Faust: “I don’t know either.”
As Maryland embarks on its last hurrah in the ACC, Turgeon not only wants his players to play well, but also look good.
After rocking golden locks last season, sophomore guard/forward Jake Layman cut his hair in the offseason — a decision that bring quite a smile to his coach’s face. But Turgeon denied that he told his player to do it, even though he seemingly had some influence.
“I think his mom and dad made him cut it. I suggested that he cut it but I think it was his mom and dad in the end,” Turgeon said. “Basically, when he came to me, he said, ‘It’s the new me.’
“He cut his hair, is doing better academically, is on time more for appointments and things like that. It’s the new Jake.”
One reporter said she thinks Justin Bieber may have been a factor in the new due as both turned to a shorter cut around the same time. She jokingly added that the main reason for Layman’s widely-known tardiness last season likely revolved around hair preparation.
“Yeah, that’s probably right,” Turgeon said.
Hurricanes blow in with style
Jim Larranga, coach of the reigning ACC regular season and tournament champion Miami Hurricanes, entered the press room with a little pizzaz Wednesday, and casually late of course.
After seeing a large crowd of people surrounding Syracuse coach Jim Boheim, who, like me, celebrated his first ACC basketball media day, Larranga creeped up behind reporters and displayed a little bit of his reigning champ swag.
“Who are all those people crowded around?” Larranga asked.
“Coach Jim Boheim,” a reporter replied.
“Oh, that looks like Jim Larranga,” the Miami coach said jokingly.
Senior Miami guard Rion Brown didn’t take a second to deny that he’s still riding the high from his team’s success in 2012, recalling a specific memory from last year — that one time that, oh yeah, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sat courtside at one of Miami’s games.
“It definitely showed us we can have fans too, that are in the NBA. I think they just respected the fact that we were playing so well. Of course, they had been here for a couple years too and knew we weren’t always considered one of the best team,” Brown said. “I think them just seeing us grow, it excited them — they wanted to be a part of it.
“They wanted to come see it also. I definitely respect that and hope they continue to support us.”
Brown said that he might return the favor and make a guest appearance at one of the Heat’s games this season.
“I feel like the more we show our faces at their games, the more they’ll show theirs at ours, he said.
Anytime you can talk about a Justin Bieberesque haircut, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and contemplate the true meaning of a “great” league with ACC men’s basketball players and coaches, there’s only one way to call it — a day well spent.
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