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ACC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Duke
- Miami FL
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Clemson
- Wake Forest
- NC State
- Virginia Tech
- Pittsburgh
- Syracuse
- Florida State
- Boston College
- Georgia Tech
- Louisville
- Notre Dame
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-ACC 1ST TEAM:
-Kyle Filipowski – Duke (ACC Preseason Player of the Year)
-Armando Bacot – North Carolina
-PJ Hall – Clemson
-Reece Beekman – Virginia
-Norchad Omier – Miami FL
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-ACC 2ND TEAM:
-Judah Mintz – Syracuse
-Nijel Pack – Miami FL
-Blake Hinson – Pittsburgh
-Tyrese Proctor – Duke
-Quinten Post – Boston College
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-Duke won 27 games in the first season of the post-Coach-K era last year, and with four starters back from that team, including Kyle Filipowski who is one of the best players in the conference (and perhaps the country), the expectations are super-high for the Blue Devils. Duke pretty much has it all. They are strong in the frontcourt with Filipowski underneath, and they have talented guards, depth, and can shoot/defend. But there is a team in this league that I actually personally like a little more than them…
-Miami FL is coming off a Final Four run and while they do lose Isaiah Wong/Jordan Miller (who were probably their two best players), three other starters are back. Norchad Omier is a huge presence underneath who averaged a double-double a year ago, Nijel Pack is a great guard and a terrific outside shooter, and they have other guys who can step into bigger roles. It seems like ever since Jim Larranaga arrived at Miami they have outperformed their preseason expectations. I believe that he is one of the best coaches in the ACC and that the Canes will once again be better than expected even though they are expected to be pretty damn good!
-North Carolina was last year’s preseason #1 team, and by the end of the year they were…well…not ranked quite that high: they ended up missing the NCAA Tournament. Just two starters are back but the talent has been reloaded. RJ Davis is back in the backcourt, Cormac Ryan has transferred in from Notre Dame as a very good outside shooter, and despite under-peforming last year the expectations are once again really high this year.
-Virginia was last year’s first-place team, but with just one starter back most are expecting the Hoos to take a bit of a step back this year. Their roster does not appear to be overloaded with experience but Tony Bennett is an expert at getting his guys to play effectively. They do have some guys who were high-caliber players and high scorers at Under the Radar programs a year ago transferring in. My guess is that the Hoos will win a lot: they always do.
-I really like this Clemson team. They were good enough to make the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but a weak OOC schedule and a particularly terrible loss to Louisville was enough for the committee to pass them over. Three starters are back including PJ Hall, who is one of the best players in the conference. Joseph Girard also comes in from Syracuse and will likely be a big-time contributor as well. Coach Brad Brownell is probably on the hot seat but this is a good roster to have for a coach that is in that situation. They should make the NCAA Tournament this year.
-Steve Forbes has done amazing job in his first two seasons at Wake Forest, and you never want to underestimate a coach who won 25 games in his first year after they won just six the year before. Losing Tyree Appleby is a huge setback and one can only assume that Wake will not be as good without him, but they do have some really good looking transfers to join the returning starters. I think Wake will be good again this year.
-NC State was back in the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2018 and their expectations are high once again. They were a transfer heavy team a year ago and they have gone into the portal again to rebuild the roster. They have a couple of guys who can really shoot the ball from the outside and if they can all gel together then they could make another run at the bubble.
The bottom half of the conference does not excite me nearly as much…
-Virginia Tech has three starters back from a team that was in the NIT a year ago and they have a really good-looking backcourt, but they also look pretty thin underneath. Given how good some of the big men in this league are I think that will be a huge issue for them.
-Pitt had a great year last year where they won 24 games and made the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament, but they are tasked with rebuilding the roster this year after three starters have departed. I like Jeff Capel as a coach and he does have some pieces to work with (like Ishmael Leggett who comes in from Rhode Island), but I have more question marks than certainty about how good they are going to be this year.
-Adrian Autry takes over as head coach at Syracuse, and after two really disappointing years the question is when (or if) Syracuse will return to being a top level program. Judah Mintz is back who was a fantastic player a year ago. He is joined by two other starters and some pretty decent transfers.
-After several years of being a top-20-caliber program Florida State has skidded off the road over the last two years. Last year they were just in a rebuild mode. This year three starters are back and they have added some pretty decent players from the portal. I do not know if we will see the Noles back inside the bubble, but I do think they will be noticeably better this year and probably finish a lot higher than where they have been picked.
-I think Earl Grant is a really good coach, and while the progress has been slow at Boston College there has indeed been progress. They won 16 games a year ago and were 9-11 in ACC play. With three starters back and some quality transfers coming in, BC may take another step forward this year. I do not think they will end up anywhere near the bubble…but I think they will continue to improve.
-Georgia Tech returns four starters from last year’s team and I am always quick to point out that experience can turn into success. Tyzhaun Claude is also transferring in after being a standout player for Western Carolina a year ago. Could the Yellow Jackets be moving in the right direction?
-Louisville won just four games last year and when I look at them I cannot quite understand how they even won that many. I would like to think they will be better this year…but that is primarily because it would be hard for them to be any worse.
-Notre Dame is picked behind Louisville. I know the Irish are not going to be that good but I think they will at least be better than Louisville.