ACC Will Not Hold Baseball Tourney In S.C. After NAACP Objects

The ACC, which planned to hold its conference baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from '11-13 , "moved the tournament to North Carolina on Monday after the state NAACP raised concerns about the Confederate flag that still flies at the S.C. state capitol," according to Cherney & Blondin of the Myrtle Beach SUN NEWS. ACC Commissioner John Swofford in a statement said, "Our baseball committee and institutional administrators awarded the championships to Myrtle Beach with the understanding that the event had the blessings of all parties within the state of South Carolina. It has become clear this was not the case." South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph said the ACC had "obviously been given some inaccurate information at the outset that stated we were on board with it, and we had never been given an opportunity to address our concerns." Randolph added, "I want to applaud the ACC for handling the matter in the very respectable manner that they did." The ACC in a statement noted that the NCAA has a "voluntary moratorium on awarding predetermined championship events to South Carolina because of the Confederate flag, although the presidents of ACC schools agreed in 2005 to hold such events in the state on a case-by-case basis." The ACC baseball tournament is "going to be held in Greensboro, N.C., in 2012, where it is also being held next year, and will be in Durham, N.C., in 2011 and 2013" ( Myrtle Beach SUN NEWS, 7/7 ). Swofford in a statement said, "In the end, given the conference's commitment to diversity, equality and human rights, our institutions have determined that this change should be made" ( Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/7 ). WHAT CAUSED CONFUSION?  Single-A Carolina League Myrtle Beach Pelicans GM North Johnson, who "oversaw the city's bid" for the tournament, said that after speaking with Myrtle Beach NAACP President Mickey James it was the organizers' "understanding that James and Randolph had discussed the bid." But Randolph "denies that conversation took place" ( Columbia STATE, 7/7 ). In Greensboro, Jeff Mills notes the ACC in May "chose Myrtle Beach's three-year bid over Greensboro's proposal to host the conference tournament," a decision that was "immediately criticized by South Carolina's state chapter of the NAACP, which reportedly planned to stage protests at the baseball tournament" ( Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 7/7 ).

ACC Moves Conference Baseball Tournament To North Carolina After NAACP Objections