2018-19 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 he Atlantic Coast Conference continued to set the standard, both academically and athletically, during a memorable 2018-19 academic year. T The ACC’s unique blend of public and private institutions continued to lead the way academically among its peer conferences. This was again demonstrated in the “Best Colleges” rankings released by US News & World Report, as the ACC was the only conference to place six of its member institutions among the top 35 and seven among the top 40. With an average rank of 54.7, the ACC led all Football Bowl Subdivision conferences for the 12th consecutive year. ACC institutions saw 95 teams receive Academic Progress Rate recognition awards from the NCAA in May, once again the most of any peer conference. In the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report released last November, the ACC’s graduation rate of 91 percent again ranked above the national average and ahead of our peer conferences. The ACC led all conferences with 12 member institutions achieving total department GSR scores higher than the national average, and 10 ACC teams achieved GSR scores of 100 in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball. Individually, our student-athletes excelled in the classroom with a record number (4,768) named to the 2018-19 ACC Honor Roll for earning a grade point average of 3.0 or better. In April, we honored another exceptional class of ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipients and presented Georgia Tech this year’s ACC Game Changers Award for its service to the hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. In May, we launched the inaugural ACC Mental Health and Wellness Summit which explored strategies and best practices for mental health care at each institution, as well as identifying ways to reduce the stigma of mental illness and promote access to mental health services. The ACC also made the strongest of statements in athletic competition with six national championships. Clemson captured the national title in football for the second time in three seasons, while Virginia brought home the league’s third NCAA men’s basketball title in the past five years. Florida State women’s soccer, North Carolina field hockey, Virginia men’s lacrosse and Duke women’s golf also claimed NCAA titles. The cumulative success of ACC teams on the playing fields was evident in late June, when we led all conferences with four schools among the top 10 of the final Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup standings. Six ACC institutions finished among the top 30, marking the 17th consecutive year in which four or more of our schools earned that distinction. The ACC placed nine schools among the top 50 of this year’s standings. In addition to the six national championships won by ACC teams in 2018-19, student-athletes from league schools claimed 10 individual NCAA titles. Our conference teams now own 160 national championships over the course of our 66-year history, and ACC student-athletes have claimed more than 325 individual NCAA titles. 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 four. The ACC is the only conference to win each of those four titles over that stretch. The ACC’s 11 bowl teams this past football season matched the league record. The 32 total ACC teams in bowl games over the past three years lead the nation, and 2018 marked the 18th consecutive year that at least six of our teams made bowl game appearances. In addition, each of our 14 schools has now played in at least one bowl game in the last three years, something no other conference can match. With Clemson claiming the national title, a conference team reached at least the semifinal round of national football championship competition for the sixth straight year. Seven ACC men’s basketball teams — including a record-tying three No. 1 regional seeds — earned NCAA Tournament bids. It marked the sixth time the ACC placed at least seven teams in the NCAA Tournament field. Virginia’s NCAA men’s basketball title was the 17th by a current ACC member school. The ACC has combined to win a record 74 NCAA Tournament games over the last five years. With its 15-6 mark in this year’s NCAA Tournament, the ACC has finished .500 or better in each of the last 32 tournaments. This stands as the longest active streak for yearly success – 19 years longer than the next-closest conference. The New York Life ACC Tournament received a warm welcome from the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Spectrum Center hosted the event for the first time since 2008. Tournament MVP Zion Williamson of Duke was the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft in which the ACC featured a record six lottery picks and a record-tying 10 first-round selections. The eight teams selected to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament matched a league record, previously set in 2014 and 2015, and were the most of any conference this year. It was the fourth time in the last five years that at least seven ACC teams earned berths in the Big Dance, and the 11th time in the last 14 years at least six teams were selected. ACC Baseball placed eight teams in the NCAA Championship field. With Florida State and Louisville reaching the College World Series, the conference sent at least one team to Omaha for the 14th consecutive season and has seen 26 teams reach the CWS since 2006. As the 2018-19 academic year drew to a close, our conference stood on the brink of launching the long-anticipated ACC Network on August 22. The partnership between the conference and ESPN will provide ACC fans unprecedented access to live events via a comprehensive, multi-platform network. It also provides for the extension of the conference’s existing rights agreement with ESPN through the 2035-36 academic year. Expansive digital coverage of the league’s 27 sports continued over the past year via ACC Network Extra, which again raised viewership opportunities to a new level as it streamed more than 1,500 events to live viewing audiences. The ACC and its member institutions remain poised to continue a long tradition of balancing athletics, academics and integrity. As a conference, we are extremely proud of our student-athletes’ accomplishments over the past year and look to the future with high excitement and anticipation. Sincerely, John Swofford ACC Commissioner 2018-19 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 BUD CHARLES TODD JOELEEN LEAHY, S.J. MURPHY JARMOND GATES PETERSON ISBELL STANSBURY AKIN 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 ELLISON-JOHNSON 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. Interim 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 Prior to January 2019, Carol Folt 2 2018-19 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 DEBORAH A. MICHELLE JAMES E. CARRIE CARLA JANE WOODSON PAWLAK YOW LEE RYAN HEILMAN WILLIAMS MILLER As of May 2019, Boo Corrigan 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 RON BARBARA GALLAGHER VÉLEZ MARTÍNEZ LYKE TUSCANO HATCH BRUBAKER WELLMAN WALKER As of May 2019, John Currie SYRACUSE ORANGE 201819 OFFICERS ACC O icers Chair of the Council of Presidents ..........................................................................................................John