One-on-One with Jay Bilas

There is so much debate right now about ACC vs. Big East and which is the best league this year. Your thoughts.

"It depends what you mean by "best." I know that's kind of a squirrely answer but if "best" means the best teams at the top and the most teams capable of winning a title, I think the ACC probably has a hair's edge. If it's depth of good teams, the Big East wins that by a mile. It's interesting. I said earlier this year that if you took the best teams in each conference one through four, the ACC probably wins that fight. And (Connecticut head coach) Jim Calhoun heard me say that and said, 'I don't disagree, but tell me one thing: Who are our best four teams?' It's a pretty good point."

You know how ACC basketball fans love to talk history, and one of the great debates is 'When was the ACC at its best?' How about when you played?

"Well, of course."

There is a pretty good argument there. Michael Jordan, Len Bias, you were part of the rise of Duke, Jim Valvano and N.C. State won it all in 1983, Bobby Cremins got things going at Georgia Tech. Ralph Sampson was a senior at Virginia your freshman year.

"To me, the best time in the league was from 1975 to 1995, give or take. The reason I say that is much before that you didn't have an integrated league. In the '60s it was a bunch of white guys playing against a bunch of white guys. About 1995, or when Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant and those guys went into the NBA straight from high school, that's when the genie came out of the bottle."

And the college game suffered?

"The game is just different now. I'm not one of those old guys saying the game was better when I played, but whether by necessity or money or other reasons, more players stayed in college for four years. Now the players are better but I'm not sure the teams are better because they're just not as mature."

Your broadcast buddy Bob Knight is in the news again with reports he will hook up with Georgia. Would you like to see him coach or stay at ESPN?

"I'd like to see him do what he wants to do. Knowing him the way I do, I think he would like to have another shot at it with a team he thinks is really capable."

How would he do?

"I always laugh at people who say he's older now. His hair is old. That's the only thing that's old. Jim Calhoun is almost the same age as Knight (Calhoun is 66, Knight is 68) and no one in coaching is more energetic than Knight. I'd love to see him coach if that's what he really wants to do. Selfishly, I'd like to see him stay with ESPN because I just enjoy the hell out of hanging around with him and talking basketball and talking about all kinds of things. We play golf a lot in the summer. Anybody who thinks Knight doesn't have energy … We play 36 holes a day for seven or eight straight days. He can play."

How about if I mention a few coaches working in South Carolina and you give me your take.

"Sure."

Oliver Purnell at Clemson.

"Oliver Purnell is one of the most thoughtful coaches I know. And he's got a plan. He came into this job at Clemson and changed the culture. They didn't have a culture of belief here, thinking they belonged at the highest level of the ACC. At different times they felt they could beat some teams, but I don't think they felt like they were among the elite. He's changed that. And he's as good a guy as you're ever going to meet."

Darrin Horn at South Carolina, off to a nice start in his first year.

"I'm really proud of Darrin. I don't say that in a paternalistic way, but I first met Darrin when he was a low-level, young assistant at Marquette. I got to know him and thought the world of him and said, 'This kid has got something really special.' I spent a lot of time with him at Western Kentucky. and he's the real thing. I'm not at all surprised his team is doing well."

Ed Conroy at The Citadel, the most surprising team in the Southern Conference.

"Ed has a lot of guts. He not only is very bright and understands the game and understands kids and understands where he is, but he was willing to take on that challenge. He's handled it so well. Ed is not only a really good coach, there's no way he'll ever be as good a coach as he is a person, and he's a hell of a coach."

Bobby Cremins at the College of Charleston.

"I was just talking about Bobby with (ESPN's) Mike Patrick. We couldn't think of anyone who has ever known Bobby who has said a bad word about him. His Georgia Tech teams were always tough when I played against them. I got to know him better when I went over to Kuwait with him and Tom Izzo, Kelvin Sampson and Bobby Lutz, and Bobby Cremins was the highlight of every stop we made. He was always funny, whether he meant to be or not."

How has Mike Krzyzewski changed over the years?

"I hear people say he's stayed the same, meaning that with positive sentiment. It's nice, but I disagree. He's better in every way than he was. He's not only a better coach and all that, but he has more empathy for others than he did. He's so much more aware of the little things that make you a great team or make you a great teammate and the coach-player relationship than he ever was. I wouldn't trade the four years I played for him for anything, but the only thing I'm jealous of is the players there now get to play for him with him knowing what he knows."

One more thing. Is it more fun to win on the basketball court or in the courtroom?

"Basketball court, by far. I've had some great wins in the courtroom and they are similar to basketball in that they are all team wins. But while I enjoy my time as a lawyer, there is nothing like being in the gym. Like a buddy of mine is a banker and he says, 'I can't tell you how many times I've sat in the bank wondering what was going on at the gym, but I've never been at the gym wondering what was going on at the bank.' "