ACC Preview

The ACC will have a lot of familiar faces this season as 35 starters from last season return including 8 who received some type of ACC honor last season.

ACC Preseason Rankings

1. Duke – How can you not pick the Blue Devils when Mike Krzyewski has four starters back from a squad that has 27 wins last season? Coach K sits at 927 wins, plus a few gold medals, I really don’t see this Duke team losing that many games, and will probably pencil them in right now as a team that we will see in Atlanta.

2. NC State – The Wolfpack also return four starters. C.J. Leslie (14.7 ppg) will be leading the way for Mark Gottfried’s squad that is the only team to return four players that were double digit scorers.

3. North Carolina – Roy Williams probably has the toughest job, needing to fill the void of four starters lost. The Tar Heels will rely on Dexter Strickland to be the leader. What may be a bigger story for college basketball fans is that Hubert Davis returns to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach.

4. Miami (FL) – Six of top seven scorers return for the Hurricanes. Reggie Johnson (10.8ppg, 7.3 rpg) will be among the senior leaders for Jim Larranaga. Julian Gamble is also back for Miami after missing last season from a torn ACL. A little fun fact since the NCAA approved the 3-point shot, Miami has made at least one three in 801 of 804 games.

5. Virginia – Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers return three starters and six of the team’s nine top scorers. Joe Harris returns as the leading scorer from last season. Harris is joined by last season ACC All-Defensive Team member Jontel Evans.

6. Florida State

7. Maryland

8. Clemson

9. Virginia Tech

10. Georgia Tech

11. Boston College

12. Wake Forest

Mason Plumlee – 4^th in the ACC in rebounds, 5^th in blocks and off rebounds last season.

C.J. Harris – 4^th leading scorer last season

Lorenzo Brown – started all 37 games last year and led the conference in steals.

Dexter Strickland – returning from an injury during the middle of last season and is the team leader in scoring, assists and steals.

Ryan Anderson – led BC in scoring and rebounding as a Freshman.

Most Underrated Team – Florida State, four of the top five scorers return for the Seminoles.

Most Overrated Team – North Carolina, the Tar Heels have a lot to replace.

Player of the Year – C.J. Leslie, the junior earned second-team last year. He gets my nod, especially if he can lead the Wolfpack over Duke or UNC.

Coach of the Year – Tony Bennett, it would be too east to pick Coach K.

Sleeper Impact Player – C.J. Harris (35 min/game and 16ppg) really shouldn’t be a sleeper pick but with Wake being near the bottom of the ACC he doesn’t get the publicity that he deserves.