What was he Thinking?
Monday, July 1, 2024, will never be forgotten in SMU history. With the university becoming the 16th official member of the Atlantic Coast Conference – No. 17 and No. 18 Cal and Stanford join on Aug. 2 – it’s all about continuing to look to the future and strengthening it.
While there was a media session with ACC commissioner Jim Phillips this past Monday at the SMUxACC celebration, yours truly count not attend that. However, through the work of SMU and the ACC, we were later able to secure a 10-minute one-one-one session with Phillips.
After his presser, the commissioner and I were escorted to a quieter venue of the second floor at Happiest Hour.
This Q&A covers several topics relating to SMU and the impact it hopes to make as it moves up into a P4 conference.
KL: Mr. Commissioner, let’s talk about this day for SMU and the ACC and what you think the potential for SMU and what it brings to this conference?
JP: It’s a spectacular day. A monumental moment for our conference that began in 1953. Started as seven members. Now with the addition of SMU, Cal and Stanford it’s up to 18. SMU is ready to be in the ACC. I think they’ve done everything necessary to put themselves in a position where it will be a seamless transition for them. They’ve invested facility wise. They’ve invested in coaches. They’ve invested in budgets. After the announcement (joining the ACC), they’ve raised nearly $160 million. This Dallas-Fort Worth area. The state of Texas is a fertile ground for recruits, for fans and alums. It’s a perfect fit for SMU. But it’s a perfect fit for the ACC. And I’m very bullish about these new additions and excited about the future.
KL: Getting into the Dallas-Fort Worth market, particularly Dallas, what do you think that could mean for the ACC?
JP: I think it’s unlimited truly because this is a part of the country as conferences went from small regions to larger regions of the country to now nationally. I’m not sure how you can put any limitations on this area knowing how committed this state (Texas) is and this area is to college sports. I read a lot. I enjoy history. It’s not apples to apples. But TCU is not TCU unless a decade ago (former Big 12 commissioner) Bob Bowlsby takes a chance, if you want to call it that, provides an opportunity and two years ago TCU is playing for the national championship. That route has been taken before. And to me, I don’t think it’s overly daunting for SMU. They’re prepared. And this market from a media standpoint, from a fan standpoint and with our ACC Network this is a state and a region we have not been in. That is a huge bonus for the ACC and a huge bonus for SMU. That’s the same when I look at Cal and Stanford in the Bay Area.
KL: What was the initial reaction when SMU’s name came up as a potential member?
JP: I don’t think it just came up recently. For all of us in these roles, whether you’re a commissioner or on the board of a conference, sitting president or chancellor, you’re always monitoring the landscape. And we’ve always seen programs come from that so-called Group of Five that have moved up and done well. I certainly believe SMU has all of the essential elements necessary for them to be successful. When you look at the academic profile of SMU, it fits. We have several schools that are private. You look at the success piece of it. SMU won eight AAC championships. They had nine teams finish in the Top 35. They had 10 head coaches or coaching staffs that were coach of the year. They had 13 players of the year in different sports. Success in football with a Top 25 ranking. New direction in basketball. They came off a good year in basketball. Women’s basketball is being rebuilt. So they had the athletic prowess as well. And then you add the market and the region. It would have to be something that a conference like the ACC would have considered. But there’s a process to all of this. It happens organically. And it all came together, spring and into the summer and culminated in September.
KL: When SMU came to you and said they could handle forgoing nine years of media revenue – knowing they would collect monies from the college football playoff, bowls, NCAA tournaments and ACC Network – what was your response to that?
JP: That’s really impressive is what that is. You have to do this thing in totality. And the entire equation is do they fit? Do they fit the academic profile? Can they win? Can they compete athletically? And then it’s how have they supported the program? You look at the facility upgrades and what they’ve done. They’ve done a wonderful job. One of the critical elements for expansion for us was not only academic prowess and strength of the league in numbers…adding to the league…as two conferences now at the Power 4 level have 18 and two are at 16…the other was we were not going to go backwards financially for any of our current legacy schools. And to take those dollars and to be able to distribute those to the current members and with SMU still being able to function because of nearly $160 million raised, it tells you everything you wanted to know if you questioned whether they could stand on their own feet or not. Those results speak for themselves.
KL: Did that make SMU a unique story vs. other candidates you were profiling? How did that fit against all the other schools you were considering?
JP: No question…that makes you stand out. But it’s the other elements in totality that really come across in a position of strength. This is a group that has it together. The university is aligned with [Board of Trustees chair David] Miller, President [R. Gerald] Turner, [Director of Athletics] Rick Hart and the coaches. They’ve been in alignment for a period of time. And then somebody has to take a chance on you as well. We’ve all needed that in our life whether it’s an individual position or a school. Nobody is where they’re at in anything if someone hasn’t taken a so-called chance. That to me isn’t that big of a risk. They’ve earned the opportunity to come into the ACC.
KL: What caused this conference to change and give SMU, Cal and Stanford the chance to come to the ACC that day (Sept. 1, 2023) because prior meetings and reported straw votes did not show the support? (Note: I asked about the NC State vote flip and Phillips respectfully declined to get into the details of those conversations).
JP: What I will say to you is that we’ve gone through expansion before, and we haven’t had unanimity. And so that happens. But when you have a threshold like we have at the ACC with 75 percent or above, that’s a pretty high level to get to. And in the end, to have the strength and conviction of the board and that 12 of the 15 were in favor said everything we needed to know from the leadership of the ACC.
KL: College athletics is ever changing. You’re dealing with it in your conference. What’s the one thing a commissioner in your spot has to deal with. What’s important for you at this stage?
JP: There are several things. For one is the House case. That’s the future of college sports. The plaintiffs and the Power 4 conferences and the NCAA, which is all 32 conferences, has agreed in principle, to come to a deal on a legal case that will really alter college sports. I really look at it as a reset of college sports and how we’re going to be distributing dollars and support student athletes, how we’re going to structure ourselves from five power conferences to four. That’s an evolving landscape. And then every day we talk about resources and revenue generation and continuing to look at ways to be creative and generate resources for the membership to be able to use in order to invest in their coaches and student athletes.
*****
Now, some off-season news involving other SMU sports…
>SMU men’s golf announced the addition of its 2024-25 transfer class featuring Enrique Dimayuga and Andrew Petruzzelli.
Enrique Dimayuga joins the Mustangs after an outstanding senior season at Nevada. The London, England native won an incredible three tournaments during the 2023-24 season. He first won the UCSB Gaucho Invitational by two strokes and led his team to a team title. A week later, Dimayuga won the El Macero Classic, becoming the first player in program history to win back-to-back tournament titles. He made it three in a row with a victory at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. Dimayuga qualified for the NCAA Stanford Regional where he finished in 14th. Before Nevada, he spent two years at Arkansas and two years at FAU. Dimayuga has a career low of 64 and a low tournament score of 12-under.
Andrew Petruzzelli is a native to Dallas and competed at TCU in 2023-24. He played in 11 events for the Horned Frogs last season. Petruzzelli finished with a 74.13 scoring average. He finished in the top 20 three times. He had his best performance of the season at the National Golf Invitational where he recorded an 11th-place showing. He finished the tournament at four-under 212 and posted a season’s best round of 68 in the second round. Petruzzelli had 12 rounds of par or better. Before TCU, Petruzzelli played in high school at Dallas Jesuit during his junior career.
> SMU Men’s Swimming Head Coach Greg Rhodenbaugh announced the hiring of Roric Fink to his staff on Friday. Fink will join the staff in the role of associate head coach.
Fink has spent the past two seasons at Arizona as an assistant and associate head coach. This was his second stint with the program, previously serving in the same role from 2003-10.
>Tickets are on sale for the SMU Volleyball home matchagainst 2023 NCAA runner-up Nebraska on September 3 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs’ home opener at Moody Coliseum features a pair of teams that won league titles in 2023.
The Mustangs enter their first season in the ACC following a 26-7 campaign that included winning the American Athletic Conference and reaching the second round of the NCAA Championship.
Let’s make it a great week. Pony Up!
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