ESPN COLLEGE BASKETBALL ANALYST SETH GREENBERG WILL SPEAK AT 2024 FRED BARAKAT SPORTS DINNER
GREENSBORO, N.C. – ESPN College Basketball Analyst and two-time ACC Men’s Basketball coach of the year Seth Greenberg will be the featured speaker at the 2024 Fred Barakat Sports Dinner benefitting the Matt Brown Learn-to-Swim Endowment, the Greensboro Sports Council announced today. Founded in 2008, The Fred Barakat Sports Dinner was renamed in 2011 in memory of the late associate commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 2024 event is set for Tuesday, April 30 on the Greensboro Coliseum arena floor.
Greenberg joined ESPN as a college basketball analyst in 2012 following a 35-year coaching career. He posted a record of 383-293 in his 22 seasons as a head coach with stints at Long Beach State, University of South Florida and Virginia Tech. He led his teams to four wins against No. 1 ranked teams and reached the postseason 11 times.
He coached the Virginia Tech Hokies for nine seasons (2003-‘12) and was named ACC Coach of the Year twice. He took the Hokies to the postseason twice and remains second on the school’s all-time wins list with 170-123 record. He was a four-year letter winner during his playing career at Farleigh Dickinson University. He is a member of the Long Beach State and the National Jewish Sports Halls of Fame.
During this event in 2017, the Greensboro Sports Council introduced the Matt Brown Learn-to-Swim Endowment which was created to help fund the Greensboro Aquatic Center’s Learn-to-Swim program. This vital effort aims to teach every second-grade student attending the Guilford County Schools how to swim at no expense to the family; the Learn-to-Swim program is primarily privately funded. The event contributed more than $95,000 to the Matt Brown Learn-to-Swim Endowment following the 2022 Dinner featuring Clemson University Football Coach Dabo Swinney.
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.
The Fred Barakat Sports Dinner is open to the general public; corporate partnerships offering access to the VIP reception with Greenberg are currently being sold by the Greensboro Sports Council. Individual tickets are $125, tables of 10 are $1,000; for additional information, please visit: https://bit.ly/48vk2sm or contact Tyler Key, tylermkey@yahoo.com. For additional information on the Learn-to-Swim program, please visit www.greensboroaquaticcenter.com/learn-to-swim.
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 include Clemson University Football Coach Dabo Swinney, former Syracuse Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim, former ACC Commissioner Gene Corrigan, former Duke University Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, best-selling author John Feinstein, ESPN college basketball analyst and Duke alumnus Jay Bilas, CBS Sports college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg and then CBS Sports golf analyst Gary McCord.
The dinner occasionally features roundtable discussions such as “Legends of the ACC” with Duke’s Mike Gminski, North Carolina’s Phil Ford, NC State’s Derrick Whittenburg and Wake Forest’s Randolph Childress, “Coaches of the ACC” featuring Wake Forest’s Dave Odom, Maryland’s Gary Williams, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Cremins and NC State’s Les Robinson and a reunion of the 1974 NC State University NCAA National Championship team with David Thompson, Monte Towe, Tommy Burleson and assistant coach Eddie Biedenbach.
About the Greensboro Sports Council:
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. The Sports Council supports or did support such sports events in Greensboro and Guilford County as the ACC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, the Wyndham Championship PGA TOUR event, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, various U.S. Swimming events, the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships, various NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the ACC Women’s Golf Tournament at Sedgefield Country Club, the United States Olympic Committee Table Tennis Olympic Trials as well as NCAA Championships hosted in the area. In addition, the Council hosts the HAECO Invitational high school basketball tournament each December. Founded in 1976, this annual event donates its proceeds to charitable organizations and its participating schools each year. For additional information, please visit www.greensborosportscouncil.com
Courtesy of Rob Goodman, 3-G Sports, LLC