Up next in 10
Press conference in Greensboro announcing the #UNC-N.C. State non-conference game in Greensboro
Aug 19, 2026
Press conference in Greensboro announcing the #UNC-N.C. State non-conference game in Greensboro
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
And to work at the First Horizon
0:02
Coliseum this morning. And the first
0:04
person you run into
0:06
is legendary all-American point guard
0:09
from the University of North Carolina,
0:11
Phil Ford.
0:12
Who won two ACC Tournament Championships
0:15
right here in the Greensboro Coliseum
0:17
[clears throat] at the time, now the
0:19
First Horizon Coliseum, in 1975 and '77.
0:24
And then you turn your head and there's
0:27
Derrick Wittenburg.
0:28
The all-ACC
0:30
and team leader and the shooting guard
0:33
for the 1983
0:35
national champion North Carolina State
0:37
Wolfpack.
0:38
>> [clears throat]
0:39
>> You think your day has started off
0:40
pretty well.
0:42
But it gets better.
0:45
But then and you then you turn and you
0:47
run into
0:49
a loyal University of Maryland point
0:52
guard, there's a theme here, point
0:53
guards and shooting guards,
0:55
uh who was the head coach of the Denver
0:58
Nuggets who won the 2023
1:01
NBA world championship and is now the
1:04
new head coach of the North Carolina Tar
1:06
Heels men's basketball program.
1:09
And then talking to coach Malone, you
1:11
turn
1:12
and there's Justin Gainey.
1:15
Uh he's a High Point native, so welcome
1:18
home.
1:19
He played at Greensboro Day School
1:21
including the uh Little Four
1:22
Championships here in the Coliseum.
1:25
He was a uh defensive specialist, a
1:29
20-year coaching veteran in college
1:31
ranks,
1:32
and he is the new men's basketball coach
1:35
at the North Carolina State University
1:37
Wolfpack.
1:39
So I'm not sure how your day started,
1:41
but my day started started well. But it
1:44
gets better.
1:45
My name is Scott Johnson. I am the
1:47
general manager of the First Horizon
1:49
Coliseum, the Greensboro Complex,
1:52
and for Oak View Group. And on On of the
1:55
Greensboro City Council and War Memorial
1:58
Commission, I'd like to thank everybody
2:00
for attending today
2:02
and joining us for this special
2:04
announcement. As many of you know, the
2:06
Coliseum has a long history of hosting
2:08
prestigious sporting events, and many of
2:10
those involved college basketball, and
2:13
in particular teams from the state of
2:16
North Carolina.
2:18
From the 1960s to now, the road to
2:20
college basketball greatness has been
2:22
determined on Tobacco Road.
2:26
Through the support of many
2:27
organizations, including the North
2:29
Carolina State Legislature,
2:31
the Greensboro Sports Foundation, the
2:33
Greensboro Convention and Visitors
2:35
Bureau, and the Atlantic Coast
2:37
Conference, today we are adding to our
2:40
college basketball legacy.
2:43
I'd now like to introduce
2:45
Chip Overbey, who is the senior vice
2:48
president of strategic planning for Old
2:50
Dominion Freight Line, to make this
2:52
special announcement.
2:58
>> [applause]
2:59
>> I'd like to thank everybody
3:01
for sure everybody coming and spending
3:03
some time with us today and taking some
3:04
time out of your your schedules. I know
3:06
everybody's busy, so
3:09
at Old Dominion, we are excited to help
3:11
[clears throat]
3:11
deliver a promise of more basketball
3:15
here in the Greensboro, now the First
3:17
Horizon Coliseum, all right.
3:20
On behalf of Old Dominion, its
3:22
leadership, the OD family of employees,
3:24
we're honored, I'm thrilled to announce
3:26
that
3:28
we'll be the inaugural sponsor for what
3:30
we will call the Tobacco Road Classic.
3:33
And they will host
3:35
the North Carolina Tar Heels versus the
3:37
NC State Wolfpack.
3:39
They will be here on December
3:40
15th
3:41
>> [applause]
3:42
>> here at the First Horizon Coliseum.
3:44
And with that, if you don't mind, direct
3:46
your attention up here to the scoreboard
3:47
just a second, and we'll we'll let you
3:49
see historically what this rivalry has
3:52
been all about and what's coming here to
3:54
Greensboro.
4:05
>> [music]
4:12
[music]
4:18
[music]
4:29
[music]
4:35
[music]
4:40
[music]
4:43
>> All right.
4:44
>> [applause]
4:45
>> And I know it's August and I know it's
4:47
hot outside, but if that didn't get you
4:49
ready for some basketball, I don't know
4:50
what does.
4:52
So, when we were first approached about
4:54
this opportunity to be title sponsor of
4:56
this event,
4:57
and we sat and we talked about it just a
4:59
little bit, there's really three things
5:00
we landed on.
5:01
First of all, this makes a lot of sense
5:03
for Old Dominion because of the
5:06
experience and the program we have in
5:08
college sports to begin with. We have
5:10
partnerships with 44 power four schools,
5:13
two of which are North Carolina and NC
5:16
State. They're great partners in our in
5:18
our program. So, there's an alignment
5:20
there. We also have a partnership with
5:21
the ESPN and Game Day. So, all those
5:23
things kind of work together, right?
5:26
The second thing was just the tradition
5:29
of this.
5:31
You know,
5:32
these two schools for for 100 years
5:36
played each other twice a year.
5:40
Home and home.
5:41
But that's changing.
5:43
And at at Old Dominion, look, we believe
5:45
in tradition. We're a traditional
5:46
company. We got a great tradition as as
5:48
an organization.
5:49
But we like traditions and we like
5:51
rivalries. And we don't want to see that
5:53
tradition end.
5:55
So we want these two schools to play
5:56
each other twice a year because there's
5:58
bragging rights and I don't know what
5:59
it's like in your family, but in mine
6:02
I've got some of both. So I've my head's
6:03
on a swivel all the time with this.
6:06
The other piece of this was just because
6:08
it was here in Greensboro. I can
6:10
remember growing up in this community
6:12
coming to the Big Four
6:15
up until 1980 and it was North Carolina.
6:17
It was the Wolfpack. State Carolina Wake
6:21
Forest, Duke. I mean, that's what you
6:22
had and it started. So this is a going
6:24
to be a great prelude, I think, to the
6:26
ACC season.
6:28
And then the third thing which is simply
6:30
the location.
6:31
Greensboro.
6:32
If you're a traditionalist
6:35
Greensboro is the heart of the ACC
6:37
basketball
6:39
world.
6:40
It just is.
6:41
And that's where everything begins. You
6:43
know, our corporate office is here in
6:45
the Triad. We moved here in the '50s.
6:48
We have a major hub in Break in
6:49
Greensboro. We have another location in
6:51
Kernersville. And hey, yes, we have a
6:53
location on Tobacco Road down in Durham.
6:56
So we get it and we like it and we want
6:58
it to be a part of what's going on. So
7:00
we were very, very proud to be a part of
7:02
this. We were proud to
7:04
watch it come about and keep this
7:06
tradition of these two fine universities
7:08
and these historic programs and playing
7:09
together. So
7:10
we're we're just thrilled. You know,
7:11
listen
7:12
I'm ready to to throw the ball up.
7:15
So thank y'all for coming.
7:18
>> [applause]
7:21
>> Thank you, Champ, and we're grateful to
7:23
Old Dominion Freight Line and their
7:25
staff and team out there.
7:27
We are also
7:29
excited to announce today that not only
7:32
will this game be taking place here in
7:34
First Horizon Coliseum on December 15th,
7:36
2026,
7:38
but it is a return game next December
7:41
and this is a two-year deal
7:43
to play both of these games in
7:45
Greensboro.
7:47
Everyone mark your calendars. Tickets
7:48
for this year's game will go on sale
7:50
Thursday, September the 10th at the
7:53
Coliseum box office and first horizon
7:55
coliseum.com.
7:58
Uh
7:58
we have a lot of people that helped us
8:01
put this together. And the North
8:03
Carolina state legislature played a role
8:06
in this. And today we have with us
8:09
representative Kyle Hall and
8:11
representative Donnie Lambeth.
8:13
And their support uh was super important
8:16
for us to be able to pull this together.
8:18
And I'd like to bring Kyle up to the
8:20
podium.
8:26
>> Good morning.
8:27
As a Tar Heel fan, it certainly wasn't
8:28
on my bingo card today to be sitting
8:30
next to coach Moore, but this is an
8:32
exciting time to be here. I give you
8:34
greetings from the North Carolina
8:35
General Assembly. It was an honor to
8:37
help uh make this happen, and also an
8:40
honor for the state budget to include
8:42
some money to help refurbish the
8:44
Greensboro Coliseum. Uh this is going to
8:46
be a huge thing for North Carolina's
8:48
economy. And you know, like was
8:49
mentioned a little bit earlier, uh
8:52
I think North Carolinian North
8:53
Carolinians expect or want NC State and
8:57
Carolina to play at least twice a year.
9:00
Right?
9:02
>> [applause]
9:03
>> But I think having it here in Greensboro
9:05
just makes it even sweeter because uh
9:07
the amount of ticket sales that'll
9:09
happen here, and the amount of economic
9:11
activity that'll occur because of this
9:13
game when it comes to restaurants, when
9:15
it comes to hotels, whatever it may be.
9:18
This is huge for the Piedmont Triad. I'm
9:20
happy that we were a part of it. Um and
9:22
I can't wait to see uh the Carolina Tar
9:25
Heels win here in Greensboro yet again.
9:28
Or NC State.
9:30
But most likely you'll see a heel.
9:32
Uh but uh it's indeed an honor to be
9:34
here today, and and let's go win this
9:36
one in December. Thank you.
9:40
>> [applause]
9:42
>> Thank you, Representative Hall.
9:45
As you all know, Greensboro has earned a
9:47
national reputation as Tournament Town
9:51
for an elite level of hosting and
9:53
prestigious sporting events. We cannot
9:56
maintain that reputation without the
9:58
efforts of the Greensboro Sports
9:59
Foundation. The Greensboro Sports
10:02
Foundation, led by Richard Beard, played
10:04
a critical role in helping solidify the
10:06
Tobacco Road Classic playing in
10:08
Greensboro, and we look forward to our
10:11
continuing partnership.
10:13
And now to the two gentlemen that will
10:15
coach the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack on
10:17
December the 15th.
10:19
The first regular season game in
10:21
Greensboro between these two great teams
10:23
since they met in the Big Four
10:25
Tournament on November 30th, 1979.
10:30
I would like to welcome University of
10:31
North Carolina head coach of men's
10:34
basketball, Jon Mike Malone, to share
10:36
his thoughts on being part of the
10:38
historical rivalry in the first year of
10:41
head coaching the North Carolina Tar
10:43
Heels.
10:45
>> [applause]
10:48
>> Good morning. Uh pleasure to be here.
10:50
Thank you for all coming out. Uh first
10:53
question I have is Phil Ford and Derrick
10:56
Wittenburg here yet?
10:58
>> [laughter]
10:59
>> How's Are they on their way?
11:01
Two minutes. Well, there's no doubt in
11:03
my mind that Derrick Wittenburg is
11:04
driving that car and got him lost.
11:06
>> [laughter]
11:07
>> No doubt in my mind.
11:09
Uh
11:10
there he is, speaking of the devil.
11:12
How about a round of applause for
11:14
Derrick Wittenburg?
11:19
Well, I will not take a lot of your
11:20
time. Um unlike Justin, who played at NC
11:23
State, you know, this is all brand new
11:26
to me. You know, I'm coming from 25
11:28
years in the NBA, and you did not have
11:30
these type of rivalries very often.
11:33
And uh when I did my research
11:36
trying to figure out what this rivalry
11:37
meant to the ACC and to these
11:40
uh two fine schools, they played twice a
11:44
year since 1919 and last year was the
11:46
first time
11:47
since 1919 they didn't have a home and
11:50
home.
11:51
And uh a huge shout-out and huge thank
11:52
you to all the people that made this
11:54
possible because I think the fans have
11:56
spoken, uh the administrators have
11:59
spoken, the legislators have spoken that
12:01
this game matters. This game means
12:03
something to everybody in this room and
12:05
I'm just really excited to be a part of
12:06
that.
12:08
I know back in Chapel Hill I play in the
12:10
Dean Smith Center and I coach in the
12:12
Dean Smith Center.
12:13
I know Coach Smith won seven ACC
12:15
championships in this building. So, I
12:18
wasn't sure if this is also going to be
12:19
called the Dean Smith Center, but
12:21
obviously it is the First Horizon
12:23
Coliseum now.
12:24
And uh Phil Ford, who I think is on his
12:27
way,
12:28
uh one of the great memories in this
12:30
arena back in 1975
12:33
when Phil Ford was just a freshman
12:34
winning MVP
12:36
>> [clears throat]
12:36
>> and beating NC State in the ACC
12:38
Championship game. So, those are some of
12:40
the things that I've learned in a short
12:42
period of time about what this game
12:44
means
12:45
uh and I'm just really excited to be a
12:46
part of that come uh December 15th. Have
12:49
a lot of respect for Justin. I think
12:51
he's a hell of a coach. Uh he's a
12:53
defensive-minded guard, a guy that could
12:55
always play for me and I look forward to
12:57
getting to know him and competing
12:58
against him for many, many years. So,
13:00
thank you once again for coming out and
13:02
uh look forward to seeing you all back
13:03
in December. Thank you.
13:07
>> [applause]
13:10
>> Thank you very much, coach. Um
13:13
we look forward to seeing you here not
13:15
only on December the 15th, but North
13:17
[clears throat] Carolina is also playing
13:19
the University of Southern California
13:21
here in First Horizon Coliseum on
13:23
October the 9th. And then of course the
13:25
ACC Tournament will be played here in
13:28
First Horizon Coliseum in the second
13:30
week of March.
13:33
And now, we're excited to introduce
13:34
North Carolina State head coach, Justin
13:36
Gainey, a 20-year college coaching
13:39
veteran.
13:40
Before playing at State, Justin starred
13:42
at Greensboro Day School, playing here
13:44
in what was then known as the Little
13:46
Four Tournament. We are excited to now
13:48
hear from Justin as we welcome him home
13:51
as the first-year head coach of the
13:53
North Carolina State Wolfpack.
13:56
>> [applause]
14:01
>> Uh thank you, guys. And and man, it's
14:03
it's great to be home. Uh it's been a
14:05
long time since I've been in here, and
14:07
it's been a lot of great memories um
14:10
that that have taken place in here for
14:12
for me personally, for NC State, and um
14:16
you know, just the tradition. And I I'm
14:18
so excited that we were able to um put
14:20
this game together. And and thanks to
14:22
everybody that was a part of that.
14:24
Coach, thank you for um for playing a
14:27
big part in it as well. And you know,
14:29
from from my side of things and and from
14:32
NC [clears throat] State, like coming
14:34
back to Greensboro, coming back home for
14:37
me is is going to be a special moment.
14:40
And and I'm excited to see um
14:42
all of our fans come in and and
14:45
[clears throat] really show up and and
14:46
have a big impact and and and presence
14:50
as we, you know, December comes and it's
14:52
it's it's right around the corner. And
14:54
so, just you know, thank you. And and
14:56
Coach Winberg, great to see you. And and
14:59
um glad you were able to make it up and
15:01
spend some time with us today. But um
15:03
again, it's it's a lot of history, a lot
15:06
of tradition here, and it's an honor to
15:08
be playing this game, you know, and and
15:11
and I I know that we would love to be
15:14
doing it within ACC play. But man, what
15:17
an opportunity, right? What an
15:19
opportunity to come back to tournament
15:22
town, right? To home and play this
15:24
amazing game. So, thank you guys. Thanks
15:25
for everything. Really excited about it.
15:27
Thank you.
15:33
>> So, if we take a moment to recognize
15:35
Phil Ford
15:36
and Phil, uh if you didn't hear earlier,
15:39
we definitely determined Derek was
15:41
driving the car.
15:43
>> I listened to him.
15:44
My fault. I'm quick I'm quicker than
15:47
Phil.
15:47
>> [laughter]
15:49
>> Thanks.
15:52
Thanks, coach.
15:56
>> [laughter]
16:01
>> Was it a pass or a shot?
16:06
>> Anybody's ever seen which arms do like
16:09
that, please hold your hand up.
16:15
>> [laughter]
16:19
>> Thank you guys for being here and thanks
16:21
coach Gainey.
16:23
Before I wrap up, I would like to thank
16:25
the two universities, the athletic
16:27
directors and staff, the coaches for
16:30
committing to these games, as well as
16:32
ACC senior vice president of men's
16:34
basketball, Paul Brazeau, for his
16:37
guidance throughout the process
16:38
scheduling these games.
16:40
We invite you to stay for lunch today.
16:44
For the media and attendants, speakers
16:45
are available for interviews along with
16:47
the ACC legends, Phil Ford and Derek
16:50
Wittenberg, who are going to tell you
16:52
why the North Carolina versus North
16:55
Carolina State game was the game. It was
16:58
the rivalry. It was the the date circled
17:01
on the calendar that we have to win. It
17:04
wasn't Battle of the Blues, it was
17:06
Battle of North Carolina State versus
17:08
North Carolina.
17:10
We look forward to seeing everyone back
17:12
here on December the 15th for the
17:14
inaugural Tobacco Road Classic presented
17:16
by Old Dominion Freight Line. Thank you.
#Sports