Tim Moore, Phil Berger on UNC, NC State and the ACC
Certainly you guys have a lot of oversight over the
North Carolina and North Carolina State
There's been a lot of talk about what may happen
with the AC C and the fact that these schools
may leave for other conferences in your opinion
Would would you allow or do you think the state
should allow those schools North Carolina North Carolina State in
particular to go separate ways or do you think they
should be in the same conference no matter what happens
You know as a Carolina guy right As a Carolina
guy I want to make sure UN C is taken
care of
Let me just say this
I think that our duty as as fiduciary of of
the state of the state and the state tax dollars
and state institutions is to support policies that allow them
to maximize uh their revenue to maximize their ability to
compete whether it's athletics academics you name it
So if it was beneficial right for Carolina or State
to be in another conference you know our duty or
my my fiduciary duty as an elected official for North
Carolina is not to any particular athletic conference
It's what's best for the state universities
And so what I would look to is you know
what is the what what are the universities looking at
What is their basis Do they believe that's good for
them Um and if they do you know to support
that so you'd be ok with Carolina going to the
big town or the SEC even if North Carolina State
didn't get that
I really think Carolina and State ought to be in
the same conference
Iii I really think they ought to they ought to
do that
And I think you'd have a lot of resistance to
seeing them split off in different conferences
So now I don't care what we do with Duke
You know and you can quote me on that
Go back to that's a little off track and I
don't wanna interrupt anybody else but there's been a lot
of talk about conference realignment
Um I don't know how much you follow sports but
I think you're a pretty big sports fan
Is it your sense that North Carolina and North Carolina
State should remain in the same conference or do you
And do you think that the political leadership of the
state would would try to ensure that happens or do
you think if North Carolina could go to the big
10 or the SEC for a much bigger paycheck They
they should be allowed to do that
Um I I've been around long enough that I remember
the big four basketball tournament at the beginning of basketball
season
And uh I uh there there there is uh is
something about the rivalries that exist uh that I think
would be damaged
Uh if uh if if we have uh the larger
schools within North Carolina in different conferences um I I
would not like to see that happen whether or not
that's something that would be appropriate for the legislature to
step in or not
Uh um I hadn't really thought about it that way
other states have passed bills that say hey you can't
separate Oregon and Oregon State or Washington and Washington State
That's nothing that that's sort of risen to your no
one has talked to me about that