GREENSBORO, N.C. – As a record six Atlantic Coast Conference teams prepare to compete in the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament “Sweet 16” later this week, the Greensboro Sports Council announces that four former ACC men’s basketball coaches, with 1,944 ACC and NCAA wins among them, will participate in the 2016 Fred Barakat Sports Dinner. Founded in 2008, the Fred Barakat Sports Dinner, presented by the Greensboro Sports Council, was renamed in 2010 in memory of the late associate commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. This year’s event is set for Thursday, April 28 on the Greensboro Coliseum arena floor.
Wake Forest’s Dave Odom, NC State’s Les Robinson, Maryland’s Gary Williams and Georgia Tech’s Bobby Cremins will participate in a conversation about their favorite memories from their years on the ACC sidelines. Longtime Raycom Sports and CBS Sports basketball broadcaster Dan Bonner, who covered the years these influential coaches led their respective schools’ basketball programs, will serve as the evening’s master of ceremonies and moderator.
“I think it’ll be a fun night – it doesn’t have to be one of those nights when everyone has to sit through one guy talking for an hour,” Odom said. “We’ll have a lot of bantering and some old stories. I think the people in Greensboro and surrounding area will have a good time. We may end up interviewing Dan Bonner – he may have more stories than we do, but when you think about these guys, it’s always the early times. It’s kind of like going fishing – the fish are always bigger when you come back than they were when you actually caught ‘em. That’s probably the way the stories will go. This is a time when you plan the event, but you don’t plan how it’ll go. The spontaneity with Dan as the moderator asking the questions – he knows where to lead us, and we know how to fabricate it so it’ll be a good night!”
Although he coached at East Carolina University, the University of South Carolina and was an assistant coach to Terry Holland at the University of Virginia, Odom is best known as the coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. His Wake Forest teams won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in 1995 and ’96 as well as the ACC regular-season championship in 1995. He is a three-time ACC Coach of the year with 406 career wins to his credit. He won NIT championships in 2000, ’05 and ’06. The Goldsboro, N.C. native is an alumnus of Guilford College and currently serves as tournament chairman of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational as well as an analyst for ESPN3 college basketball broadcasts.
Before the school left the ACC, Williams coached the University of Maryland from 1989 through 2011and won a national championship in 2002. His teams won three ACC regular-season championships and the 2004 ACC Tournament. The two-time ACC Coach of the Year won 668 games in his coaching career and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. He also served as the head coach at American University, Boston College and Ohio State before joining Maryland in 1989. He is an alumnus of the University of Maryland where he played basketball and is currently a college basketball analyst for the Big 10 Network.
Cremins led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the 1990 Final Four, ACC Tournament championships in 1985, ’90 and ’93 as well as ACC regular-season titles in 1985 and ’96. He is a three-time ACC coach of the year and a four-time Southern Conference Coach of the year in recognition of his time at Appalachian State University and the College of Charleston. An alumnus of the University of South Carolina, Cremins won 579 games in his career and was an assistant coach for the 1996 United States Olympic Team.
Robinson is the former men’s basketball coach and director of athletics at The Citadel, East Tennessee State University and NC State University. He won Southern Conference championships in 1989 and ’90 and played in the NCAA Tournament each of those years. He coached at NC State from 1990 through 1996 taking the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament one time. Robinson is an alumnus of NC State University; he returned to his alma mater following the end of Jim Valvano’s career at NC State. With 291-career wins, Robinson is one of only two first-year coaches in ACC history to win 20 games, post a winning regular-season conference record and win games in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
Barakat joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1981 as the supervisor of men’s basketball officials. He was later named assistant commissioner and was then promoted to associate commissioner, director of men’s basketball. For 16 years he served as the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament director along with his other basketball responsibilities that included scheduling, managing the league’s television partners and officiating. He passed away in 2010.
“Fred Barakat, himself, was so good to all the coaches in the ACC, particularly me, since I was so close at Wake Forest,” Odom said. “He helped guide me through the early years of my time at Wake Forest. I still consider the Barakat family to be one of the ‘first families of the ACC.’ You think about Greensboro and my early years at Guilford College; my wife is from Greensboro, and Greensboro has been an important part of my adult life. The one thing we should always do is give back to communities that have given to us. When I got the phone call from the Sports Council, it was an easy decision to make”
The Fred Barakat Sports Dinner highlights significant figures in or related to the Atlantic Coast Conference or one of its sports. Previous featured guests at the event are former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, ESPN college basketball analyst and Duke Alumnus Jay Bilas, CBS Sports college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg, ESPN College basketball analyst Dick Vitale, Duke University Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski, CBS Sports golf analyst Gary McCord and a “Legends of the ACC” roundtable discussion among Duke’s Mike Gminski, North Carolina’s Phil Ford, NC State’s Derrick Whittenburg and Wake Forest’s Randolph Childress.
Open to the general public, the Fred Barakat Sports Dinner is the Sports Council’s only major fundraising event; proceeds from the dinner help offset expenses associated with hosting the many events supported by the Sports Council each year. Individual tickets, $95, and tables of 10, $850, and sponsorships are available through the Greensboro Sports Council; please visit: www.greensborosportscouncil.com.
Founded in 1959, the Greensboro Sports Council is the official host organization for the Greensboro Coliseum Complex providing hospitality, resources and community interaction for events held at the Coliseum Complex. In recent years, the Sports Council has expanded its traditional role to support sports events in Greensboro and Guilford County such as the Wyndham Championship PGA TOUR event, US Figure Skating Championships, the ACC Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the ACC Women’s Golf Tournament at Sedgefield Country Club, the United States Olympic Committee Table Tennis Olympic Trials, the ACC Baseball Tournament when applicable and any NCAA Championships hosted in the area.
In addition, the Council hosts the HAECO Invitational presented by NewBridge Bank high school basketball tournament each December. Founded in 1976, this annual event donates its proceeds to charity and the participating schools each year.