Duke extends its stay at the ACC tournament, just not in Greensboro
Duke’s stay at the ACC tournament was brief Tuesday. The Blue Devils made their earliest-ever arrival and their earliest-ever exit.
And they’ll be back Wednesday.
Instead of staying in Greensboro, Duke decided to commute from Durham as long as it remains alive, preferring the I-85 drive to sharing a hotel with as many as 11 other teams. Make that eight: Boston College checked out Tuesday after Duke cruised to an 86-51 win, departing along with Tuesday’s other two losers.
So the Blue Devils will make the trek back and forth at least once more to face seventh-seeded Louisville on Wednesday, a team that beat Duke twice during the regular season, albeit once by five points and once in overtime.
Mark Williams, for one, will have new confidence for the third meeting after Duke fed the freshman big man for 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting against the Eagles in a game that otherwise went more or less as expected, with Duke starting hot from 3-point range and staying hot even after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski emptied the bench.
“I just hope we can keep it going against Louisville tomorrow,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m glad it’s an evening game so we have a little time to prepare.”
Duke shook off whatever hangover might have been left from the North Carolina blowout and, by easily dispatching a lesser opponent, built at least a little bit of a foundation for a longer stay in Greensboro. Or not in Greensboro, as the case may be.
Unlike most years here, when teams stay at several hotels spread across Greensboro, the tournament half-bubble has the top four seeds at the Grandover Resort and the other teams moving in and out of the Sheraton at Four Seasons, the traditional tournament HQ hotel not far from the Coliseum.
Duke would rather remain in isolation at the Washington Duke on campus, where the team has spent the entire season successfully and safely sequestered, than risk sharing quarters with the competition. If that means repeatedly traversing Alamance County — and no stops at the outlet mall in Mebane — so be it, starting with Duke’s 45-minute practice session at the Coliseum on Monday.
Which is entirely Duke’s choice. There’s no ACC requirement that teams have to stay in Greensboro. It’s just that no one other than Wake Forest has ever really had a good reason not to before, and Wake’s stays have been exceedingly brief in recent years anyway.
Everyone, every team, is navigating this pandemic differently. As with Duke’s decision not to allow any fans or media other than ESPN into Cameron this season, the Blue Devils have erred on the side of safety. (That also meant, oddly enough, this was the first time all season Duke played in front of a friendly crowd.) An hour each way on the bus is clearly a price Duke is willing to pay for that familiarity and security.
Maybe not in a normal year, when bonding on the road during the ACC tournament is half the fun, but this is a very abnormal year. And it certainly sounds like Clemson coach Brad Brownell, for one, would probably do the same if the geography were in his favor.
“There’s concern just because we’re in a hotel with other people,” Brownell told The (Columbia, S.C.) State on Tuesday. “We’re taking every precaution that we can ... but it’s not like we’re on complete lockdown like we hear it’s going to be in Indianapolis.”
The NCAA tournament doesn’t have 68 hotels for 68 teams, but it has already relayed strict travel and tournament guidelines to potential participants, from acceptable airplane seating to practice procedures. Some of that is certainly performative, to quell fears like Brownell’s, but given the stakes the NCAA is pulling out all the stops.
The ACC, more quietly, has put practical measures in place, like tracking devices for all players and staff inside the bubble to simplify and minimize contact tracing if there is a positive test. Which is to say, Duke’s perfectly comfortable being here. It’s perfectly comfortable playing here — before the team took the court Monday for practice, Krzyzewski told stories about Duke’s great moments in Greensboro. It would just rather not stay here.
The Blue Devils will commute instead. Four more times in four more days, if they get their way.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 7:16 PM.
