2019-20 ANNUAL REPORT ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MISSION STATEMENT ACC MISSION STATEMENT To maximize the educational and athletic opportunities that shape our leaders of tomorrow — in the classroom, in competition, and in life. ACC VISION STATEMENT To be at the forefront in educational excellence, athletic achievement, and innovation while inspiring the development of leaders in the ACC. ACC CORE VALUES ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE ATHLETICS EXCELLENCE COMPETITIVE FAIRNESS INTEGRITY CAMARADERIE INCLUSION DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP SPORTSMANSHIP TOTAL PERSON COMMISSIONER’S WELCOME hile the 2019-20 academic year brought unprecedented challenges, the dedication and resiliency of our Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes, coaches and W administrators continued to set the highest standard. That won’t be forgotten, even as we eagerly anticipate returning to the universities we love and the passion that is college athletics. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of all competition following the second week of March, we will look back on 2019-20 with a certain sadness and thoughts of what might have been. At the same time, we will remember this year as one in which our student-athletes continued to excel in the classroom, and ACC teams again ranked among the nation’s elite on the fields and courts of play. The ACC’s unique blend of public and private institutions continues to lead the way academically among Autonomy 5 conferences. This was again demonstrated in the “Best Colleges” rankings released by US News & World Report, as the ACC was the only Autonomy 5 conference to place six of its member institutions among the top 30 and seven member schools among the top 40. With an average rank of 54.7, the ACC led all FBS conferences for the 13th consecutive year. Eighty-three ACC teams received Academic Progress Rate public recognition awards from the NCAA in May. The ACC has led all Autonomy 5 conferences in 14 of the 15 years since the NCAA began APR public recognition of Division I teams. In the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate report released last November, the ACC’s graduation rate of 92 percent ranked three points higher than the national average and led all Autonomy 5 conferences. Eighteen ACC teams achieved GSR scores of 100 in the sports of men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball. Individually, our student-athletes excelled in the classroom with a record 5,611 being named to the 2019-20 ACC Honor Roll for earning a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the entire academic year. The 2019-20 academic year will also be remembered for the launch of the much-anticipated launch of ACC Network last August. It proved a tremendous startup in every respect – viewership, talent, production and storytelling. The high level of commitment from our partners at ESPN has been truly gratifying. Prior to the complications caused by COVID-19, the combined eorts of ACC Network and ACC Network Extra increased live viewership opportunities for our Championship and regular-season events to new levels, and we look forward raising the bar even higher. The ACC added a national championship last November as the North Carolina field hockey team brought home its second straight NCAA title and the eighth overall under head coach Karen Shelton. Our conference teams own 161 national championships over the course of our 67-year history, and ACC student-athletes have claimed close to 330 individual NCAA titles. This past year’s ACC Football Championship Game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium attracted nearly 67,000 fans as Clemson defeated Virginia for its fifth consecutive conference title. The ACC then sent 10 teams to postseason bowl games. The 42 total ACC teams in bowl games over the past four years leads the nation, and 2019 marked the 19th consecutive year that at least six of our teams made bowl game appearances. With Clemson advancing to the national title game, a conference team reached at least the semifinal round of national championship competition for the seventh straight year. The ACC ranks second among all conferences with 137 bowl appearances since 2005. The ACC is the only conference to send every member team to at least one bowl game over the previous four seasons (2016-19). The COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the final three rounds of the New York Life ACC Tournament and the entire NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, but ACC teams occupied their usual places in the national spotlight during the regular season. Four ACC teams were ranked in the final Associated Press poll: league champion Florida State (4), Duke (11), Louisville (14) and Virginia (16). This marked the seventh straight season in which the ACC had at least four teams in the top 25 of the final AP poll. Greensboro, North Carolina, welcomed the New York Life ACC Tournament for a league-record 27th time. While this year’s event ended prematurely, the conference looks forward to being back at the Greensboro Coliseum in 2023, following a return to Washington, D.C., next year and Brooklyn in 2022. Following another successful ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum, three league teams were ranked among the final top 25 with Louisville at No. 6, ACC champion NC State at No. 8 and Florida State at No. 19. The ACC led all conferences with eight student-athletes selected in the 2020 WNBA Draft. It marked the second consecutive year that the ACC had more players chosen in the draft than any other conference, following a league-record 13 selections a season ago. The ACC also made its mark in the Major League Baseball Draft as its six selections among the 29 in the first round tied for the most of any conference. The ACC has now had at least one player taken in the opening round of the MLB Draft for 29 consecutive years. Overall, our conference remains poised to challenge at the national level. The ACC has won seven national championships in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball since 2015. That is the most of any conference and the next closest has five. The ACC is the only conference to win each of those four titles over that stretch. The ACC shares the lead in football national titles since 2013 (three of the last seven) and more men’s basketball national championships than any other league since 2015 (three of the last five). As we weigh the changes of the recent months and prepare to move forward, the ACC and its member institutions remain poised to continue a long tradition of balancing athletics, academics and integrity. We look to the immediate future with high excitement and anticipation. Sincerely, John Swoord ACC Commissioner 2019-20 ACC ANNUAL REPORT / LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER 1 MEMBER SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. REV. WILLIAM P. ROBERT G. MARTIN JOCELYN ÁNGEL CHARLES TODD JOELEEN LEAHY, S.J. MURPHY JARMOND GATES CABRERA ISBELL STANSBURY AKIN As of June 2020, Patrick Kraft CLEMSON TIGERS LOUISVILLE CARDINALS President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. JAMES P. JANIE DAN STEPHANIE NEELI ELAINE VINCE CHRISTINE CLEMENTS HODGE RADAKOVICH ELLISONJOHNSON BENDAPUDI WISE TYRA HERRING DUKE BLUE DEVILS MIAMI HURRICANES President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. VINCENT MARTHA KEVIN JACKI JULIO MARVIN BLAKE JENNIFER PRICE PUTALLAZ WHITE SILAR FRENK DAWKINS JAMES STRAWLEY FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. Chancellor Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. JOHN PAM DAVID VANESSA KEVIN LISSA BUBBA MARIELLE THRASHER PERREWÉ COBURN FUCHS GUSKIEWICZ BROOME CUNNINGHAM VANGELDER 2 2019-20 ACC ANNUAL REPORT / MEMBER SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION MEMBER SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION NC STATE WOLFPACK VIRGINIA CAVALIERS Chancellor Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. RANDY JOEL BOO MICHELLE JAMES E. CARRIE CARLA BRITTNEY WOODSON PAWLAK CORRIGAN LEE RYAN HEILMAN WILLIAMS WHITESIDE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. REV. JOHN I. TRICIA JACK MISSY TIM JOSEPH G. WHIT REYNA JENKINS, C.S.C BELLIA SWARBRICK CONBOY SANDS TRONT BABCOCK GILBERT-LOWRY PITT PANTHERS WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS Chancellor Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. President Faculty Athletics Rep. Athletics Director Senior Woman Admin. PATRICK SHEILA HEATHER JENNIFER NATHAN O. PETE JOHN BARBARA GALLAGHER VÉLEZ MARTÍNEZ LYKE TUSCANO HATCH BRUBAKER CURRIE WALKER SYRACUSE ORANGE 201920 OFFICERS ACC Oicers Chair of the Council of Presidents .............................................................................................................Kent D. Syverud, Syracuse President ............................................................................................................................................................................Joe Tront, Virginia Vice President ..............................................................................................................................................Peter