The ACC has a network launching this August, you know, and they released a fair bit of detail on their programming in an announcement Friday. That’s especially true when it comes to their basketball content, as some of the football content had already been announced. Now, we know that they’ll be running an opening-night documentary on long-time Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his 1982 recruiting class, and we know what matchups they’ll have to open the ACC basketball season in November. Here’s an overview of what they have coming up:
ESPN provided a first look at planned content for ACC Network (ACCN), the new, 24/7 national platform that will launch on August 22, 2019. At an event held prior to the semifinals of the 2019 New York Life ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., network officials announced four ACCN exclusive early-season conference basketball games featuring eight ACC institutions (November 5 and 6), an ESPN Films documentary, The Class That Saved Coach K, and a multi-part film, The Tournament: A History of ACC Basketball, and a daily talk show Packer and Durham hosted by Mark Packer and Wes Durham on ACCN and simulcast on SiriusXM radio.
“With just over five months from the launch of ACCN, we continue to assemble a compelling programming slate of live events and original content that speaks to ACC fans’ interests and the conference’s hallmarks of historic achievement and unmatched basketball success,” said Rosalyn Durant, ESPN senior vice president, college networks.
The early-season basketball games they mention are detailed further here:
ACC 🏀 LIVES HERE! pic.twitter.com/T7PONGaCx9
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 15, 2019
And here’s more information from the release on the The Class That Saved Coach K documentary on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his 1982 recruiting class:
Set to debut on August 22, 2019 – the night of ACCN’s launch, this one-hour documentary tells the story of Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his 1982 recruiting class that, over four years, would overcome a bumpy start to change the narrative – turning the Blue Devils around and setting its coach on a historic course. Members of that class, including Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson, along with the Hall of Fame coach, recall the extraordinary beginning of Duke’s journey to becoming college basketball’s gold standard.
Here’s a trailer for that:
Before he built the @DukeMBB dynasty, he had to build a team.
The Class That Saved Coach K. pic.twitter.com/J69UPE2VKu
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 15, 2019
ESPN also announced a fair bit else, including another documentary (The Tournament: A History of ACC Basketball) slated for the 2020-21 season and a daily 7-10 a.m. show with Mark Packer and Wes Durham, similar to their current Sirius XM show ACC Central. More information on what’s ahead for ACC Network can be found on their site.
