COLLEGES Miami, ACC move closer during visits to campus

The ACC commissioner said the Hurricanes may be a member in two weeks.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- The University of Miami and the Atlantic Coast Conference had many of their remaining questions answered Friday during a site visit that moved the Hurricanes a step closer to potentially leaving the Big East.
ACC commissioner John Swofford refused to put a timetable on Miami's possible decision, but said it could be done in two weeks.
"That's possible, but it would be inappropriate for me to give you a drop-dead date," Swofford said. "I don't know that there is one.
"When you get to a point of visiting campuses, you know there's a very high level of interest on our part as well as their part. If that's not the case, we're not going to be here and they're not going to be welcoming us here."
The delegation
Swofford, Florida State athletic director Dave Hart and North Carolina State athletic director Lee Fowler headed the nine-person delegation of ACC officials. Associate commissioners Fred Barakat, Bernadette Glade and Shane Lyons, Florida State faculty athletic representative Chuck Erhardt, Duke faculty athletic representative Kathleen Smith and Duke senior women's administrator Jacki Silar also made the trip.
They toured the Orange Bowl, Miami's campus and its athletic facilities that include a new $48 million basketball arena and a workout facility that was part of a $4.5 million renovation in 2001. They met for an hour with Miami president Donna Shalala.
"This was an enjoyable visit, one in which we had a lot of questions answered and believe that the University of Miami had a lot of their questions answered," Hart said. "We came away very impressed with where the University of Miami is academically, athletically and the potential they hold for the future."
Voted for invitations
The ACC voted May 16 to extend invitations to Miami, Boston College and Syracuse to begin formal discussions on joining the nine-team league and creating a 12-team superconference that would add a lucrative title football game.
Site visits are mandatory based on ACC bylaws before league presidents can vote to extend formal invitations to the three Big East schools. Different delegations are expected at Boston College and Syracuse next week.