ACC Commissioner John Swofford champions UofL

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford was the guest of honor Feb. 24 for UofL’s Conversations With Champions at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. February 25, 2015

A crowd of about 300 heard Swofford talk about the future of the ACC and how UofL fits into that future.

“We think our conference, basketball-wise, has been the best for a long period of time,” said Swofford.

When the commissioner was asked how he thinks UofL has impacted the athletic excellence of the ACC, he replied, “I look at Louisville basketball as right in sync with where the league has always been and football as right in sync with where the league is headed.”

The audience had several questions for Swofford concerning UofL’s 2014 entrance into the ACC. The commissioner had positive comments about the Cards and said that what has occurred in athletics at UofL over the last 15 years is unmatched at other colleges.

“To see how the commissioner embraced us, how the other league members always wanted us to do well and helped us with the learning curve, made it such a special place. I can’t thank this league enough,” Tom Jurich, athletic director and vice president for athletics at UofL, told the audience before the program begin.

View photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uofl/sets/72157651030058485/

Watch video: http://youtu.be/EI-tzT2mqs4

UofL Conversations With Champions is a College of Education and Human Development program that focuses on ethics and sportsmanship in professional sports. It is moderated by sports journalist and adjunct professor Billy Reed.

Swofford has been dommissioner of the ACC for 18 years and is the longest tenured commissioner in ACC history. He has expanded the league from a nine to 15 member conference.

For more information about Conversations With Champions visit their website: http://uoflconversationswithchampions.com/