Atlantic 10 Hopes the Buzz of Barclays and Brooklyn Will Rub Off on the Conference Virginia Commonwealth Coach Shaka Smart called Barclays Center, the home of the Atlantic 10 tournament, the "it" arena. Virginia Commonwealth Coach Shaka Smart took a cab to Barclays Center for the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball media day Tuesday, and before he entered, he snapped a picture of the arena. He sent the photograph as a text message to his six returning players. Immediately his phone began buzzing in response. "I don't think you could find an arena in the country that's more thought of as the "it" arena or the place to be right now," Smart said. A framed photograph of Beyoncé performing at Barclays hung on the wall behind him, near an action shot of Nets point guard Deron Williams. Smart needed only to glance over his shoulder at those still images to absorb the attractiveness of this 13-month-old arena - already a landmark - to players, fans and recruits. That hipness and first-class feeling were what the A-10 had hoped to grab when it signed on to hold its conference tournament in Brooklyn two years ago, not fully knowing whether Barclays would really be all that hip or first-class. The A-10 ditched Atlantic City, and with it, perhaps, that underdog mentality, moving right up to New York, right into the den of the Big East Conference, to set up shop across the East River. It was a curious tactic after years of being based in and around Philadelphia and led by flagship members like Temple, St, Joseph's, Massachusetts and George Washington - all programs that were unmistakably un-New York. That identity has changed. Now the A-10 has embraced the hipster chic style, and all that Brooklyn might bring with it. "We were here in the beginning, before they were even open," said Bernadette V. McGlade, the conference commissioner. We were committed. We wanted to bring our championship here; Barclays wanted to bring a Division I conference championship here. We were able to forge those partnerships several years ago. Phil Martelli, the dean of conference coaches with 19 seasons at St. Joseph's, said the shift is not easy for some longtime fans. "Look, I'm a Philadelphian through and through," Martelli said. I'll be the first person to tell you I don't quite get New York. But, Martelli added, there is significance to affixing the league with Brooklyn, a borough that has skyrocketed as a brand over the past few years, and one that resonates with young players. "In their world," he said, "the building is about Jay Z and the pop cultural events that it hosts, not just the basketball." Fordham Coach Tom Pecora said that even though his team played its home games in the same city, he uses the Brooklyn angle as a talking point in recruiting. "It comes up in recruiting all the time," Pecora said. We make sure it does. We want kids to know, this is going to be the venue and we're going to play games here for the duration of your career. Last year, the first A-10 tournament at Barclays was overshadowed by the final traditional Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden, which drew large crowds and prime-time television coverage. In Brooklyn, the A-10 drew a little more than 6,000 fans a game, fewer than the Conference USA and West Coast Conference tournaments. But the Big East, as it was constituted, is no more, and the A-10 would like to believe it placed itself in an ideal spot to fill that void. All afternoon Tuesday, coaches cited the league's depth and bristled at the suggestion it was still a midmajor conference. Naturally, there was talk of comparisons between the A-10 and what is now the Big East, which features familiar names like Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's, as well as the former A-10 members Butler and Xavier. "I think it's going to be fascinating to watch and compare their league and our league," Smart said. I'm not so sure there's a huge difference. I'm not saying we're better, but there's a lot of very good teams in their league, and we have a lot of depth as well. The Big East will continue to host its conference tournament at the Garden for at least the next decade. But the A-10 does not have a similar long-term arrangement with Barclays, so it will have to justify its existence here fairly quickly, something Martelli said would not be easy. "The challenge is to be noticed in this city," Martelli said. How are you going to be a story? You better be at the top of your game to be a story in New York. In many respects, the league is approaching that level. Five teams earned a spot in last year's N.C.A.A. tournament, not including Davidson, which enters in 2014. A record 71 conference games will be televised nationally this season. And the hope is that the relationship with Brooklyn will add to the conference's credibility. "We are one of the premier basketball conferences in the country," Pecora said. We deserve to play in a venue like this.