Lawmakers concerned over ACC expansion

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Sen. Warren Giese, a retired football coach who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he doesn't like the expansion because it will make the conference too big, adding unnecessary travel time for the teams and the fans.

"This spreads it out into a television extravaganza," he said. "I think it flat reeks of commercialism."

Atlantic Coast Conference member presidents voted earlier this month to invite Big East schools Miami (Fla.), Syracuse and Boston College to join the nine-team league.

"These three institutions represent and share the values for which the ACC has long been known," James Barker, Clemson University president and chair of the Council of Presidents in the ACC, said when the decision was announced.

The conference worked for 18 months to evaluate and plan its future, he said.

"The priorities of this evaluation have been academic compatibility, commitment to student-athlete welfare, long-term financial stability and national athletic excellence," he said. But Rep. Lewis "Gene" Pinson, a Greenwood Republican and Citadel graduate who also attended Clemson for graduate work, agreed with Giese.

"I don't think it's going to help Clemson football," he said. "It's just a big money grab."

Pinson said bringing nationally ranked powerhouses Miami and Syracuse into the conference may boost money from televised games but it likely will add to Clemson's losses.

"I just don't see it as something positive," he said. "I know about the big money and big draws from these other schools. But I think Clemson and the ACC can probably draw on anybody. I just think college athletics is getting totally out of control."

Giese also believes that the process for deciding the expansion and who's invited to the conference should be more open.

"Certainly it would seem that something as important as that, there would be an open discussion and open meetings," he said. "I wish they would give us some good reasons why this is in the best interests not only for the schools' bank accounts but the people who have been their supporters."

Giese, who served as the head football coach for the University of South Carolina from 1956 to 1960, said he also believes the expansion takes away from the closeness and rivalries in the conference.

"I'm afraid the gate receipts and TV and all of those things are being considered before the interests of the students in the conference," he said

Sen. Larry Martin, a Pickens Republican, said he supports the expansion if Clemson officials do, but he also has concerns about its impact on Clemson football.

"I can't see how getting Miami will help Clemson football," said Martin, a Clemson fan. "If the board supports it and the athletic program thinks it's in their best interest, we'll just have to see how it plays out."

State Rep. Harry Cato, a Travelers Rest Republican and 1980 Clemson graduate, said he supports the expansion, though he knows it could affect attendance at some of Clemson's games.

"I can see the attendance dropping off at the Duke and Wake Forest games," he said.

House Speaker David Wilkins said he has no concerns about the expansion.

"I have great confidence in Jim Barker as president and in our athletic director over there," said Wilkins, a 1968 Clemson graduate. "They're the ones who have to make those decisions, and if they think it's a good idea, that's good enough for me."

Staff writer Duane Rankin contributed to this report.