ESPN's Jay Bilas With DG

Jay Bilas has become a familiar figure to anyone who follows college basketball, and especially to those in the Triangle. A former Duke player, broadcaster and assistant coach, Bilas now serves as a color commentator and studio analyst for ESPN's coverage of all things related to college hoops.

We recently caught up with Bilas, who will speak Friday morning (7-9:30 at the RBC Center in Raleigh) to the Breakfast Club of the Triangle, and chatted with him about ACC basketball, his busy lifestyle, his relationship with Mike Krzyzewski, his journalistic approach, his legal background, his recent ESPN commercial ("Duke Boy" with UNC's Hubert Davis) and other topics.

DG: What is your assessment, to this point in the season, of Duke, UNC and N.C. State?

Bilas: North Carolina is the best team in the ACC and one of the best in the country. They have the most talent. They are the most explosive. The only problem is, they're young. When you have so many freshmen and sophomores in decision-making positions, you're subject to inconsistency. They're used to playing at a very high rate of speed. If you can slow them down, and you're a really good team, you'll have a chance (to beat them). Their work on their half-court execution over this next month or so is going to be the difference in whether they're in Atlanta (for the Final Four) or not. Half-court play at the end of the year can be even more important than your success in transition. Carolina can get slowed down by a very good team more easily than Carolina can force a very good team into an up-tempo game.

With Duke, I'm not sure this four-game losing streak said as much about Duke as it did about many of us in the media. I think our pendulum often swings too wildly, based on the most recent result, good or bad. Duke is a good team this year, not a great team. They're very good defensively, and they play hard. They're not as explosive as they've been. Their margin for error is not as great as we've seen it in the past several years. At the same time, they're an NCAA team, no doubt about it. They're a good basketball team, but they're a cut below great.

N.C. State has done a remarkable job. When you look at some of their individual players — Ben McCauley especially, but also Gavin Grant, Courtney Fells — their improvement from last year to this year has been phenomenal. Brandon Costner has been terrific, too. They've also done a good job over the course of the season of getting better. Despite being shorthanded, they've been able to be really competitive and win games. For the most part, you really have to play your tail off to beat them. Sidney (Lowe) has done a really good job of getting the kids to embrace his style of play. As he gets more players, more good things will happen. Right now, I'm sure it has to be difficult for him to have the kinds of competitive practices you really need. Depth is what makes that happen, and help is on the way.

DG: You're an attorney, a well-known TV commentator, an on-line columnist, a prominent speaker, a husband, a father, a frequent traveler and probably 100 other things people don't know about. Do you ever sleep?

Bilas: Well, it gets interesting sometimes. This time of year is awfully difficult, mainly because of the travel. The biggest problem is the amount of time away from home. Sometimes you're not as good a husband or father as you try to be the rest of the time. At this point, I'm not particularly fond of airports and carrying my toiletries in plastic baggies. It's a strange world when you're thinking of buying something, then you're wondering if it's too many ounces of liquid (to take on the plane), or you're worried how it's going to look to the guy at the airport security checkpoint.

I really enjoy what I do, so I'm not complaining, but the schedule has gotten more out of hand over the last four or five years. The offseason is like the Amazon rain forests; it seems to shrink every year. Now we're devoting a lot of attention to the NBA draft, which takes me all the way into July. Then you try to see the high school kids at the camps in July, and before you know it you're preparing for the next college basketball season. It's definitely crazy at times, but it's fun, too.

DG: At this point in the season, is the ACC the best basketball conference in the country?

Bilas: I think it is. It's the most competitive. In the ACC and the SEC, it's so hard to tell the teams apart. The ACC has been stronger at the top before — meaning more Final Four-caliber teams, more national championship contenders — but I'm not sure of a time when the bottom teams have been as good as they are this year. In most games among the top eight or nine teams, you could flip a coin at the tip and be just as accurate (with your predictions) as watching video for a week and trying to dissect every detail on both sides. In most cases, the teams are really that close, and they're pretty good, and there's a very fine line between winning and losing.

DG: There's a real short list of sports media members who also are practicing attorneys. Have you found any similarities in the two jobs? How has your legal background helped you as a college basketball analyst?

Bilas: Well, I guess you and I make two, and I know there are a few others. I'm still of counsel with Moore & Van Allen in Charlotte. I'm not carrying the same kind of caseload as I did when I was a full-time commercial litigator. It's a little bit more stable (as an attorney), because even if I got home late I still got to sleep in my own bed, but there are good and bad things about both, as with any job. I think there is a little bit of crossover (between law and media) in the way you prepare for and approach things, but that's probably about it. It ended up being very helpful that I used to stand up in front of some (high-ranking) judges. When the TV thing got going, I didn't sweat the camera the way I thought I would. Those judges are allowed to ask tough questions. In TV, you may have to deal with a co-host, but the camera doesn't talk back.

DG: Many people who cover college sports for a living have to deal with the issue of writing or talking about their own alma mater. In your case, you also have Mike Krzyzewski, a man who coached you in college and once hired you as an assistant. What's your relationship like with Coach K these days, and is there anything different about the manner in which you approach talking or writing about a school or a man who has played such an important role in your life?

Bilas: It's difficult for fans to understand or accept sometimes, but you know how this goes. You just can't worry about it. There's a segment out there that's always going to believe what they want to believe, whether or not it's fair and whether or not it makes any sense. You just have to do what you do and hope that people listen, and over time they'll see that you do your homework and you're honest and you're fair.

When I first got into (the media), I talked with Coach K. I told him there were going to be times when he wouldn't like what I had to say. He said, "You should never worry about what people think. Once you start playing favorites or pulling punches, people aren't going to believe or trust what you say." People focus on where you went to school, but let's face it, everyone develops personal relationships that in many cases are far more meaningful. You can't go through life without making friends and connections, but you also can't let those friendships damage your ability to do your job the right way. In my case, if North Carolina is the best team, and that's what I think, then that's what I'm going to say. If there's something positive to say about Duke, I'll say it, and if there's something negative I'll say that, too. If people don't like that, that's too bad.

DG: You dutifully played the fall guy in a recent ESPN commercial that touched upon the intensity of the Duke-Carolina rivalry. (Bilas is surrounded in a cafeteria setting by people — it eventually becomes obvious that they're pro-Carolina people — who refuse to serve him food, deny him places to sit and purposely bump into him. Former UNC guard Hubert Davis, another ESPN analyst, ends the ad by calling Bilas "Duke Boy," as everyone laughs.) What kind of feedback have you received about it, from either Duke or Carolina people?

Bilas: The funny thing is, "Duke Boy" wasn't even in the script. The director, after some of the takes, would encourage us to try this way, try that way, and we'd goof around with various things in between takes. The "Duke Boy" comment from Hubert probably came after doing it 20 or so times. Of course, I smelled a rat right away. (Laughs.) I was convinced that this was their plan from the beginning, and they just gave me a different script so I'd agree to it. (Laughs.)

I've always been a little bit sensitive about making our commentary about Duke and Carolina. The one thing we've always talked about is that too many people already assume that because you went somewhere you're a homer. We know nothing could be further from the truth, but again that's what some people choose to think. Fortunately, I think most people understand. I have too much respect for the game to tailor my comments based upon where I went to school. So we always tried to shy away from the Duke-Carolina thing, but everyone seemed to like this (commercial). We were all happy with the way it turned out, and people really seem to like it.

When I'm at an airport or in a restaurant now, "Duke Boy" definitely has become a common theme. That's been fun, and I love to have fun, but I do have one request. (Laughs.) No more bumping into my chair in restaurants. I'm afraid to order soup now! (Laughs.) There are other good things on the menu, but I'd like to get back to where I can order soup without worrying about it ending up in my lap.