ACC has eyes on Big East MSG gig
The Big East has more than the Big Ten to worry about. The ACC is also interested in bringing its postseason tournament to the Garden, and conference commissioner John Swofford has been speaking to executives there, sources told The Post.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany created headlines at his league’s media day a few weeks ago when he told reporters the conference had presented the Garden with a plan he believes would “elevate” the arena regarding the college basketball postseason.
The Big East has a contract with the Garden to hold its tournament through the 2026 season, though there is an opt-out following 2022, sources said.
MSG has hosted the Big East Tournament since 1983.
“Madison Square Garden is the most sought-after venue in the country, and it’s an honor that the top conferences want to hold their tournaments here,” Joel Fisher, MSG’s executive vice president of Marquee Events, told The Post in a statement. “That being said, we have had a terrific partnership with the Big East conference for 30-plus years.”
The Big Ten played the Garden last year, but a week before the other major conference tournaments, which Delany said would not happen again. It sold out just one of seven sessions, while the Big East had capacity crowds for three of its five sessions, averaging 18,790 fans — the highest attendance of any conference tournament in the country.
The ACC has come to the city as well, playing its tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn the last two years. Like the Big Ten, it isn’t interested in moving up its tournament.
Though it seems unlikely either tournament would make New York City its permanent home annually — both rotate sites — they do want what the Big East has.
“I wouldn’t call it a concern,” Big East associate commissioner Stu Jackson said. “All of it rests with Madison Square Garden. I learned from [former NBA commissioner] David Stern a long time ago, when there’s competition, there’s always negotiation.’’
Villanova coach Jay Wright admitted there was some hesitation to bringing in freshman point guard Jahvon Quinerly after he was implicated in the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball.
But after the school hired attorneys to look into the matter, Wright said, he was comfortable bringing in the New Jersey native, although he was connected to former Arizona assistant coach Emmanuel “Book” Richardson for allegedly being offered money to attend Arizona.
Quinerly, the league’s preseason Co-Freshman of the Year, de-committed from Arizona, which he initially chose over Villanova. Richardson is awaiting his trial in April for allegedly accepting bribes.
“What [our] outside attorneys found was there was no reason to think in any way [the family] took any money or they would be implicated in the trial,” Wright said.
The media area at the Big East Tournament will be named the Jim O’Connell Media Center after the Hall of Fame Associated Press college basketball writer who passed away at 64 in early July.