Phillips optimistic despite FSU, Clemson lawsuits
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday the pending litigation with Florida State and Clemson is “disruptive” and “harmful” but it has not changed the dynamic between them as the league wrapped up three days of meetings.
Phillips and league representatives, including athletic directors, football coaches and men’s and women’s basketball coaches met to discuss a big list of topics — including a possible settlement in the House vs. NCAA case, CFP expansion, revenue distribution and changing the perception around the league.
But with Florida State, Clemson and the ACC engaged in lawsuits against each other over the league’s withdrawal penalty and grant of rights, uncertainty continues to hang around the league as it charts a new course with three new members joining in the fall. Cal, Stanford and SMU also participated in the league meetings.
Phillips acknowledged what remains ongoing with Clemson and Florida State, saying, “It’s difficult, it’s disruptive, it’s harmful but that’s the world we live in. It hasn’t changed one iota about how we’ve interacted with them and it shouldn’t.”
It should be noted Clemson and Florida State were full participants in the meetings over the past three days. Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said Tuesday the meetings were “cordial.” When asked if their future in the league could be salvaged, Alford said, “We’ll just wait for that to play out.”
Asked the same question Wednesday about salvaging a future with Florida State and Clemson in the league, Phillips said, “You have to stay optimistic, and you work through these things. I don’t know where it’s going to go. But I will continue to remain optimistic about our league … and I won’t ever change until somebody else tells me differently. Am I going to fight and protect the ACC? Absolutely. I have to do that. That’s my responsibility. So we’ll see where it goes.”
Clemson and Florida State have specifically pointed to a mounting revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC as reasons their future in the league is untenable. But Phillips said the ACC has worked to address those issues, including full distribution of the ACC Network and success initiatives that reward on-field success.
“If we’re chasing money, then we’re chasing money,” Phillips said. “But I believe we’re also trying to chase success. And so if it’s just a money issue, which no one can show me that money equates success, you can maybe show me some examples, but I can show you some examples also, where schools have done really well on the national scene with some less revenue.”
That revenue gap will grow further in the expanded 12-team CFP, with the SEC and Big Ten set to earn a larger share of that revenue pie. North Carolina coach Mack Brown said Tuesday he was “disappointed” that money will not be equally distributed.
Phillips said Wednesday when the final breakdown was made over CFP appearances, the ACC was slotted in 17 to 18%.
“I felt like I negotiated hard, just like every conference did and we got to a place that at the end of the day, ‘Do you love it?’ You don’t love it, but it certainly was better than where we started, and it’s more than we’ve ever had relative to CFP dollars. But I again understand it causes even a greater gap.”
Phillips said it was imperative to get more than one team into the CFP, and addressed trying to change the perception surrounding the way the league has performed in football.
“We have to try to change that, and we’re determined to do that,” he said.
As for the settlement talks in House vs. NCAA, Phillips said he could not get into specifics because too many unknowns remain about what the final dollars will look like. But the ACC presidents and chancellors will meet next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their spring meetings to discuss the issue further.
He also noted that the league has been able to find success across the board, with five national titles so far in this athletics season, and does not want that to get overshadowed with what is playing out in courtrooms across three states.
“These cases are going to take a little while,” Phillips said. “We’ll have to work through them. We have 10,000 student athletes that are really doing well that are performing at the highest level. I hope that we don’t lose sight of while all this is going on, the conference continues to do really well. We’ll manage what we have to manage.”
LOS ANGELES — Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley is accused in court documents of providing drugs to the late Tyler Skaggs, the Los Angeles Angels pitcher who died of an accidental overdose in 2019.
Skaggs’ former agent, Ryan Hamill, said in a deposition that Skaggs told him he was using pain pills containing oxycodone that were provided by Miley.
The deposition is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family against the Angels in California. A former publicist for the Angels, Eric Kay, was convicted in Texas of providing the fentanyl-laced pills that an autopsy found contributed to Skaggs’ death. Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
Skaggs died in the team hotel in a Dallas suburb. His body was found hours before what was supposed to be the start of a series between the Angels and Texas Rangers.
Miley, 38, is not facing criminal charges, and it’s not the first time his name has come up in relation to Skaggs’ death. During the sentencing phase of Kay’s case, prosecutors used a recording of a conversation between Kay and his mother in which Kay said Miley was one of Skaggs’ drug suppliers.
The Reds had no comment Thursday, and Miley wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Matt Harvey, now a retired major league pitcher, testified during Kay’s trial that he provided drugs to Skaggs. Harvey was later suspended for 60 days for violating MLB’s drug policy. He didn’t pitch in the major leagues again. Harvey and three other players also testified they received pills from Skaggs and described the recreational drug use they witnessed while with the Angels.
Harvey and Skaggs were teammates with the Angels in 2019. Skaggs and Miley were teammates with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012 and 2013.
Hamill said the conversation in which Skaggs implicated Miley took place in 2013. Hamill had expressed concern to Skaggs’ parents about what he said was erratic behavior from the pitcher in a phone conversation. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ parents confronted Skaggs at home, leading to Skaggs’ admission that he was using drugs and the accusation that Miley was supplying them.
Miley signed a one-year contract with the Reds on June 4 and has made two starts this season. He had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in May 2024 and signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati in February.
Miley had an opt-out clause if he didn’t reach the big leagues by June 1. The 14-year veteran executed that clause but remained with Cincinnati while he pursued potential deals with other clubs before re-signing with the Reds.
MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski left his highly anticipated major league debut when he slipped on the front part of the mound after holding the St. Louis Cardinals hitless through five innings of a 6-0 win Thursday night.
Misiorowski had just thrown a third straight ball to Victor Scott to open the sixth when his foot landed awkwardly. After Brewers medical staff went out to check on him, Misiorowski exited the game and Nick Mears came out of the bullpen.
The Brewers later said Misiorowski left because of cramping in his right calf and quadriceps.
The flamethrowing right-hander struck out five and walked three through the first five innings, earning the win. Scott ended up taking a fourth ball from Mears, and that walk also was charged to Misiorowski.
Mears retired the next three batters, but Willson Contreras grounded a clean single up the middle against Aaron Ashby leading off the seventh for St. Louis’ first hit.
Misiorowski spent much of the night showcasing the elite velocity that made him one of the game’s top pitching prospects.
He reached 100 mph with each of the first three pitches he threw to Lars Nootbaar to start the game. Two pitches later, Nootbaar fouled off a 102.2 mph offering. Fourteen of the 81 pitches Misiorowski threw reached at least 100 mph, the most for a rookie pitcher in a game this season.
He became the 10th player since 1891 with at least five innings pitched and no hits allowed in his major league debut. Only Pittsburgh’s Bumpus Jones has thrown a no-hitter in his MLB debut, doing so in 1892.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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