By Kenneth Cross
While North Carolina has been given the nod as the favorite in the ACC, Duke, Virginia, Florida State, Miami, and Notre Dame are given the best opportunities to unseat the Tar Heels.
The following ACC rankings were posted at the Media Day in Charlotte, NC:
1) North Carolina – Armando Bacot could play his way into the National Player of the Year honors as he can improve the 16.1 points and 13.3 rebounds of a year ago. He has three other starters joining him in the lineup in Caleb Love, RJ Davis,
and Leaky Black and that experience plus the continuity will make UNC a tough out. Carolina always has a potent offense and rebounding persona, but the Heels will look to improve their defense as they gave up 71.3 points per game (243rd/CBB).
2) Duke – Not only did legendary Mike Krzyzewski retire, but the Blue Devils lost a plethora of talent led by Paolo Banchero. New coach Jon Scheyer will have a young lineup as he placed three of the top four rated players – Dereck Lively, II, Dariq Whitehead and Kyle Filipowski. Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach, who is the lone non-freshman among who will probably get the most playing time.
3) Virginia – The Cavaliers return all five starters from a year ago as Jayden Gardner was the leading scorer as he shot 50.1 percent from the floor. Armaan Franklin and Kihei Clark both averaged double figures as well while Reece Beekman and Kadin Shadrick were the other pair of starters. Virginia brought in a group four-star freshman and Ohio University transfer Bennett Vander Plas. The Cavaliers once again were a stellar defensive team as opponents only scored 60.1 points (6th/CBB).
4) Florida State – Coach Leonard Hamilton welcomes back his top two scorers in Matthew Cleveland (11.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Caleb Mills (12.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg), but the Seminoles are going to look to get back to playing their tough defense which is why the7 struggled last season. Opponents shot 44.4 percent from the field and scored 71.9 points per outing. Hamilton signed five quality freshmen, led by center Cameron Cohen and forward De’Ante Green. FSU gets a solid shooter in UCF transfer Darin Green.
5) Miami – Coach Jim Larrañaga finally had a healthy team and he took them to the Elite Eight in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Isaiah Wong has the talent and capability to be an ACC Player of the Year as he will be the Hurricanes’ leader as he can repeatedly find his shots and work solidly off the dribble. The 6-6 Jordan Miller shot 56.1 percent from the field and led Miami in rebounding with 5.9 per game. Freshmen AJ Casey and Favour Aire and Kansas State transfer Nigel Pack on the point will provide Miami with the depth and abilities that the Hurricanes will need to make a major ACC run.
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6) Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish finished tied with North Carolina for second in the ACC last season and coach Mike Brey has a group of graduate students who are ready to aim much higher. Dane Goodwin (13.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg) is the leading returning scorer as Nate Laszewski and Cormac Ryan averaged over nine points each and were keys on the boards. The Irish shot 38.1 percent from three-point range (12th/CBB). Watch JJ Starling, a five-star guard, who can make Notre Dame play at a higher level on both ends of the floor.
7) Virginia Tech – Coach Mike Young led the Hokies to the ACC Tournament championship as Virginia Tech won it’s first conference tournament since 1979 when they were in the Metro Conference. Guard Hunter Catoor and forward Justin Mutts will be the leaders of this team as Mutts led VT in rebounding at 7.4 per game while Catoor shot 41.7 percent from three. Rodney Rice, a freshman combo-guard out of DeMatha, will be a contributor right away for the Hokies.
8) Wake Forest – The Demon Deacons improved by 19 wins last season as coach Steve Forbes had a team that should have been an NCAA Tournament participant as it finished 25-10. The backcourt of Davien Williamson, Damari Monsanto with Cameron Hildreth a returning sophomore.The addition of Florida transfer Tyree Appleby will give the Demon Deacons a deep presence in the backcourt as his shooting ability will make him a tough Matchup. Daivion Bradford and Andrew Carr will be a pair of solid transfers in the middle for the Deacons.
9) Syracuse – The Orange return their third returning scorer in Joseph Girard (13.8 ppg, 4.2 apg) while Jesse Edwards (12.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) shot 69.5 percent from the floor. The ‘Cuse picks up a solid small forward in freshman Justin Taylor and a vital combo-guard in Judah Mintz. Syracuse will have plenty of depth to move forward with Girard and Edwards. Watch Symir Torrance on the point as he averaged 13 minutes per game and contributed 2.9 assist per night last season.
10) NC State – Terquavion Smith (16.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) returns to the Wolfpack and will be one of the top players in the nation. The key for NCSU is on the defensive end of the floor where they struggled a year ago in allowing opponents to shoot 47.2 percent from the floor while scoring 75.6 points per game (322nd/CBB). Casey Morsell and Cam Hayes need to turn into consistent productive scorers for coach Kevin Keatts.
11) Clemson – The Tigers will be in a tough position as they lost four of their top seven scorers from last season. PJ Hall is the only proven scorer on the roster as he shot 49.9 percent from the field while averaging 15.5 points per night. Chase Hunter also proved he could score (6.7 ppg) where he shot 50.4 percent from the field.
12) Boston College – Makai Ashton-Langford (12.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and DeMarr Langford, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) return as the Eagles’ top two scorers. The key for the Eagles is to score more and have more of an offensive attack that will look to score. . BC only scored 66.9 points last season while the Eagles shot only 42.8 percent from the floor.
13) Louisville – Kenny Payne comes back to the ‘Ville to take over the Cardinals, who have been in a melt down over the past season as they lost 15 of their last 18 games and Chris Mack was given his pink slip at mid-season. Payne has an immense amount of coaching ability as he was John Calipari’s assistant at Kentucky before going to the New York Knicks at the beginning of last season. Offense was a major problem as the Cardinals did not have a single player to average double figures. Watch El Ellis (8.7 ppg, 1.9 apg), who could be the key player to the Cardinals this season.
14) Pittsburgh – John Hughley (14.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg) is a key big man in the post for Jeff Capel as he was the biggest offensive contributor on a team that shot only 41.4 percent (30th/CBB) from the floor. Jamarius Burton will lead the Panthers’ backcourt where he was able to get to the rim off the dribble to lead the Panthers in that type of offense.
15) Georgia Tech – Guard Kyle Sturdivant (7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and 6-10 Rodney Howard (6.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) will be two key pieces as the Yellow Jackets try to work on building back their roster as they won the ACC Tournament two years ago. The Jackets will try to score the ball more as they shot only 44.1 percent (173rd/CBB) last season.