GREENSBORO -- Upon deciding to leave Washington State for Virginia, Tony Bennett turned to two of his now-former colleagues in the Pac-10 for advice on coaching in the ACC.
One was former N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, now at Arizona State. The other was former Duke player and assistant coach Johnny Dawkins, now at Stanford.
Bennett's distillation of their take on the differences between the leagues:
"The rivalries, the proximity, the crowds on the road," Bennett said. "Whereas in the Pac-10, you can't travel as many people to watch your games. Those would be some of the major differences.
"Certainly, the caliber of play and the talent, there are tremendous players in the Pac-10 and in this league. I think the coaches in this league would say top to bottom, the ACC is so strong, and every road game is such a war. Those are really the differences, but until you go through a league and play everybody, you can't really tell."
The closest schools to Pullman, Wash., were Washington (six hours away by car) and the two Oregon schools (more than eight). Now, he'll be within a three-hour drive of Virginia Tech and Maryland.
The four North Carolina schools are all closer to Charlottesville than his nearest Pac-10 rival was at Washington State, not to mention prime recruiting areas like Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, Hampton Roads and the Triangle.
"To travel anywhere from Pullman, it took a while to get there," Bennett said. "That's a nice advantage now, of proximity. ... I went to a (high school) game the other night, and to be two hours away and see the talent on the floor, that's certainly a drawing card, and something I wasn't used to in the Pac-10."
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or 
