Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton will miss seeing Gary Williams on the sideline for Maryland after his retirement. But Hamilton is too busy adjusting to a series of coaching changes in the league to focus on just one.
''Well, unfortunately in the ACC, there are a lot of comings and goings,'' he said during Wednesday's ACC media day. ''We need nametags now when we have meetings to make sure we don't forget.''
Only four of the 12 schools - Duke, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech - have had the same coach at least nine seasons. The other eight programs have head coaches with three or fewer seasons in the league. Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami and North Carolina State have coaches preparing for their first season, while coaches at Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest are entering their second year.
When Virginia coach Tony Bennett took over before the 2009-10 season, nine of the league's coaches had been at their schools at least five seasons. Now he's in the upper half of the league in tenure. He figures the league is entering a new period of stability as the next wave of coaches build for the long term.
''You're going to get your time to do it and they're going to be able to establish their programs,'' he said. ''I don't think you're going to see the kind of turnover that you saw the last three years. I'd be surprised.''
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WAKE'S MISERY: Wake Forest junior C.J. Harris and sophomore Travis McKie said they were at least able to salvage something from the miserable first season under Jeff Bzdelik.
''I learned how first to get through something that tough,'' Harris said. ''I've never been through a situation that bad. I learned to fight through it.''
Wake Forest won eight games last year and lost 16 of 17 against ACC opponents. Harris said he learned to tune out outside talk because it would put him in a ''worse mood,'' while McKie said it was a ''depressing'' jolt from his freshman plans ''to come in and win and have a good time.''
''It was definitely a mental struggle to get through,'' McKie said. ''You find out who your real friends are, the people who care about you when things are rough.''
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FREQUENT QUESTIONS: Miami guard Durand Scott wasn't on campus when news broke in August about a former booster's claims that he provided cash, gifts and other improper benefits to Hurricanes athletes over an eight-year period. But it didn't take long for the junior to start hearing questions about it from fans and friends.
''It was different because you get questions every day - `What's going on with you guys' program?' - from Twitter to Facebook to people walking up to you,'' Scott said. ''I was just like, `I don't know what's going on.'
While most of the accusations focused on football, convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro said he paid $10,000 in 2007 to help the men's basketball program secure the commitment of recruit DeQuan Jones and that former head coach Frank Haith - now at Missouri - knew about it. But Scott said the team is focused on starting under new coach Jim Larranaga.
''As a program, we've just moved on,'' Scott said. ''We're pretty much looking forward to Coach L. That's what's most important. ... I knew we were going to be fine as a team because I knew Coach Haith and everybody else on our staff handled things properly.''
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HAUNTED: Florida State senior forward Bernard James said the offseason wasn't one of celebration even though the Seminoles reached the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the first time since 1993.
The reason? James couldn't forget how close FSU came to going even further.
VCU beat Florida State 72-71 on a basket in the final seconds to reach the regional final, where the Rams upset Kansas to reach the Final Four. James said he struggled with the realization that the Seminoles were ''one possession away'' from having their shot to reach Houston instead.
''It's just been kind of haunting in the offseason,'' James said. ''I think about that game every day: the mistakes I made and the defensive assignments I missed. That was my motivation the whole summer, to become faster, to get stronger, to improve on my skills.''
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EXPANSION TALK: ACC commissioner John Swofford said the league's schools are still sorting through how they'll deal with scheduling and the setup of the ACC tournament once Pittsburgh and Syracuse join the league.
During his annual Q&A forum, Swofford said it was ''highly likely'' the league would move to an 18-game schedule once the schools arrive, though it's still unclear exactly when that will occur. The Big East's bylaws required a 27-month notice and a $5 million exit fee.
He said the two schools are being consulted on scheduling, which could be resolved by early February even if the schools don't arrive for the next season. As for the ACC tournament, Swofford said the schools' early preference is for all 14 teams to participate - which would add a fifth day to the event.
Swofford said the league is still working to renegotiate its TV deal with ESPN after the expansion.
