Jim Calhoun's comments earlier today were a big hint that he wanted UConn out of the Big East, but a new report from ESPN makes things much more explicit: UConn, and Susan Herbst specifically, wants to get out of the Big East and into the ACC. Here is the most damning part:
A source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Monday night that UConn President Susan Herbst and Calhoun were working the phones to continue to drum up interest from within the ACC. According to the source, UConn is optimistic that interest is reciprocal but UConn officials have no idea about the ACC's timeline as to when it would decide if it would go to sixteen.
According to the source, UConn officials led by Herbst do not see remaining in a weakened Big East as a viable option.
Want more, here's Calhoun saying what he's looking for in a conference:
"From a basketball standpoint, I would love to be at the most powerful conference in America."
With Syracuse and Pittsburgh in the new-look ACC you don't have to go to one of the Top 60 schools in the country to figure out what league he's talking about.
It's not just Calhoun who is on board either, here's Geno Auriemma:
UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma echoed Calhoun, saying Connecticut is in contact, "with everybody," and "prepared to take advantage of opportunities that make UConn able to compete at the highest levels."
Calhoun and Auriemma's sentiments reflect much of what the fanbase (including the proprietors of this blog) want, and what seems like it would be the best for UConn, but it's Herbst that is the key. If Katz's source is correct and she feels that the Big East isn't a 'viable option' you can expect every string to be pulled to get to the ACC. The remnants of the Big East are actively reaching out to survive in some fashion, but it's hard not to picture whatever they put together as a "weakened" version of the conference UConn has called home for 30 years. It's looking very clear: if the ACC will take us, we're gone.