Season Preview

Harrison Barnes

1. North Carolina


2010-2011 record: 29-8 (14-2 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 10
Best non-conference game: 12/3 at Kentucky



Projected Starting Five:




F - Tyler Zeller (Senior)
F - John Henson (Junior)
F - Harrison Barnes (Sophomore)
G - Dexter Strickland (Junior)
G - Kendall Marshall (Sophomore)




There isn't much up for debate: North Carolina is clearly the best team in the ACC.  Roy Williams has had three core groups of players that have been outstanding since he's been in Chapel Hill.  The first was Felton/McCants/May. The second was Lawson/Hansbrough/Ellington/Green.  And now there's this class of players, led by Harrison Barnes.


Barnes came in with so much hype last year.  It took him a while to get into his groove in the offense, and once he did he started shooting and didn't stop. I thought he shot a little too much at times, but at points he was brilliant.  He is joined in the frontcourt by John Henson and Tyler Zeller, two guys who are definitely capable of putting up big numbers.  Henson has to be a guy that NBA scouts are drooling over, with his long arms and high motor.


But the main guy who makes this team go is Kendall Marshall.  The turning point last year came when the Tar Heels parted ways with Larry Drew, who never lived up to his potential.  Marshall stepped in and was terrific.  He isn't the biggest scorer, but can make shots when called upon.  He is an excellent distributor and runs Carolina's fast break very well.  James McAdoo is the most highly ranked freshman coming in, but will have a hard time getting playing time behind Carolina's other more experienced players.


North Carolina has a pretty solid schedule.  They already started things out by beating Michigan State by double digits in that aircraft carrier game.  The big matchup is a game in Rupp Arena against a Kentucky team that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament last year.


The Tar Heels certainly have the talent to win it all for a third time under Roy Williams.  They should end up with a very gaudy record, and win the ACC easily.  It is really hard to find a weak link with this team.  The only thing I would caution is that many people felt the same way about Duke last year, and then they had a significant injury and couldn't get it done.  As talented as Barnes is, Marshall is the one guy they can't afford to get hurt.  As long as he can stay healthy and in the game, this is one tough team to beat.

Season Preview

Doc and Austin Rivers

2. Duke


2010-2011 record: 32-5 (13-3 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 13
Best non-conference game: 11/29 at Ohio State




Projected Starting Five:




F - Mason Plumlee (Senior)
F - Ryan Kelly (Junior)
G - Andre Dawkins (Junior)
G - Austin Rivers (Freshman)
G - Seth Curry (Junior)




Last year did not go quite as expected for Duke.  First, they had to deal with a tough injury to super freshman Kyrie Irving.  Then, they had a couple unexpected losses in the regular season.  And just when they got Irving back, they had problems integrating him back into the lineup and lost to Arizona in the Sweet 16.  Now the Blue Devils will go into this season overshadowed by their hated rivals, UNC.


Duke certainly has the pieces to once again be an elite team.  They lose Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, plus Irving to the NBA draft.  They will rely a lot more on the Plumlees this year, who haven't really fulfilled their full potential (they combined for about 12 points per game last year).  Ryan Kelly is one player who might have a breakout year.  He really improved as the year went on, becoming a threat from the perimeter.


The backcourt has some more question marks.  Seth Curry definitely has a lot of talent, but at times he seemed lost among the other talented Duke players last year.  Curry scored just 11 points in 3 games in the NCAA Tournament.  He will move over to play the point.  Andre Dawkins seemed to peak early in the year, and tapered off in ACC play, only three times in ACC games hitting double figures.  The other guard is one of the most coveted recruits in the country: Austin Rivers.  The son of Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers, Austin has the reputation of a big time scorer.


I expect Duke to get their bigs involved much more than in years past.  They will have a size advantage on most teams in the conference.  The Plumlees will need to be rebounding machines, to get offensives boards for kick-out 3s for Dawkins or Curry.  Curry is not their traditional point guard who has a lot of speed, so expect them to not get out in transition as much as a team like North Carolina.


You have to love the way Duke schedules.  They have to have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this year.  Duke will play Michigan State, Tennessee, Michigan or Memphis (in Maui), Ohio State, Washington, Temple and St. Johns this year.  And they could face Kansas in the Maui final.  That will get this team battle tested and ready for conference play.  There is no reason to think that they will do any worse than 12-4 in the ACC this year (and 2 of those losses might be to UNC).

Season Preview

Bernard James

3. Florida State


2010-2011 record: 23-11 (11-5 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 8
Best non-conference game: 11/30 at Michigan State






Projected Starting Five:


F - Bernard James (Senior)
F - Okaro White (Sophomore)
G - Deividas Dulkys (Senior)
G - Michael Snaer (Junior)
G - Jeff Peterson (Senior)




It has been interesting to trace the progression of Florida State over the years.  For years they were the most predictable team in the ACC: they would play very well at home, beat Duke or UNC each year, and finish somewhere around 8-8 in the conference, just missing out on the NCAA Tournament (about where Virginia Tech is now).  Then they took a step up, making the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years but failing to win a game.  Last year the Seminoles took the next big step, making it to the Sweet 16.  I think they have the ability to duplicate that success.


When you are talking about Florida State and a Leonard Hamilton coached team you think of defense.  The Seminoles will once again have the length to cause people fits.  They do lose Chris Singleton, who was definitely their best player, although they played pretty well without him when he was hurt last year.  I think their key player this year is Bernard James.  James is 26 years old and coming off a pretty good year.  He will be the main force down low.  In the perimeter, Michael Snaer will be key.  Snaer averaged exactly 8.8 points per game both of his first two years, but improved his free throw and three point percentage last year.  The point guard spot will be manned by an interesting player.  Jeff Peterson played at Iowa, then Arkansas, then transferred to Florida State.  His best season was 2008-2009, where he averaged double figures for the Hawkeyes.


Florida State's schedule is somewhat unimpressive.  They will have two tough matchups against rival Florida and Michigan State, but should be able to win their other non-conference games.  They have a very tough start to the ACC season, though.  Their first three games are at Clemson, at Virginia Tech, and home against UNC.  If they can get through that, the second half of the conference schedule is much more forgiving.  So I expect them to be riding some nice momentum going into March.

Season Preview

Brad Brownell

4. Clemson


2010-2011 record: 22-12 (9-7 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 6
Best non-conference game: 12/10 at Arizona





Projected Starting Five:


F - Devin Booker (Junior)
F - Milton Jennings (Junior)
G - Tanner Smith (Senior)
G - T.J. Sapp (Freshman)
G - Andre Young (Senior)




The team that I was probably most surprised about when the ACC media preseason rankings came out was Clemson.  Coming off an NCAA Tournament berth, with most of their players back, Clemson was picked 7th.  I'm a believer in Brad Brownell and the Tigers, and think they are in for a good year.  I got the chance to see Clemson in person in the ACC Tournament last year, and was very impressed at how they competed despite not having the same level of talent as North Carolina.  Coach Brownell implemented his system, a big change from the pressing style of Oliver Purnell, and made it work.  The team peaked at just the right time.


So what will this year's team look like?  Expect a heavy dose of Devin Booker, who isn't the same player his brother Trevor was, but can fill up the stat sheet.  I expect Booker to blossom into a double figure scorer.  Milton Jennings has shown flashes of talent, and needs to show some consistency.  In the backcourt, Andre Young is the go-to guy.  He will get his points.  I'm sure Clemson fans want to see more from Tanner Smith this year.  His points per game went down last year, and he looked to be lost in the flow of the game at times.


Clemson has the opportunity to get off to one of their usual good starts.  They don't have a lot in the non-conference, outside of a trip to Arizona.  If the draw works out well, they could face some tough opponents in the Diamond Head Classic.  They have a great opportunity with home games early against Florida State and Duke to make a statement to the rest of the league.


I thought Clemson would take a step down once Oliver Purnell left, but they overachieved last year.  And I think with a second year under his belt, Coach Brownell will get the most out of his players and go the NCAA Tournament again this year.

Season Preview

Mike Scott

5. Virginia


2010-2011 record: 16-15 (7-9 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/18 at Oregon






Projected Starting Five:


C - Assane Sene (Senior)
F - Mike Scott (Senior)
F - Joe Harris (Sophomore)
G - Sammy Zeglinski (Senior)
G - Jontel Evans (Sophomore)




There has been a lot of negativity around the UVA basketball program for so long that I think not many people realized that the Cavaliers ended up with a 7-9 record in the conference last year.  That included winning four out of their last five conference games.  And now there is a lot of optimism, with a majority of the team coming back this year.


Of course the key is forward Mike Scott.  Scott was primed to have a monster year last year, but an injury early in the season forced him to sit the rest of the way.  He was granted a medical redshirt and will be back this season.  If he can be the double-double man that he has shown the promise he can be, that will be huge for this team.


The rest of the parts aren't bad.  Last year's freshman class included some promising players, including Joe Harris, who averaged 10.4 points per game, and K.T. Harrell, who averaged 8 points per game.  Jontel Evans isn't a big scorer but is a solid point guard for Coach Tony Bennett's offense.


The non-conference schedule sets up well for success.  UVA doesn't have to hit the road until December 18th, when they have a date with Oregon.  A road game later on against LSU is a chance to win against a struggling SEC program.


I think Coach Bennett has this team in a good spot.  They are so frustrating to play against, because they slow the tempo down and force you to play their game.  Here's why I don't think their ceiling is that high: their offense is structured to run the clock down and shoot a fair amount of outside shots.  If they are shooting the ball well, they win games.  But if they aren't making their 3s, they could put up an ugly offensive number in the 30s or 40s.  I think UVA is bound to have some of those games, which could keep them from going 10-6 in the conference.  They have a decent shot of making the NCAAs, though.

Season Preview

C.J. Leslie

6. NC State


2010-2011 record: 15-16 (5-11 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 10
Best non-conference game: 11/19 vs. Vanderbilt (in East Rutherford, NJ)








Projected Starting Five:


F - Richard Howell (Junior)
F - C.J. Leslie (Sophomore)
F - Scott Wood (Junior)
G - C.J. Williams (Senior)
G - Lorenzo Brown (Sophomore)




You probably heard the collective sigh of relief coming from NC State fans this spring as the school made a change at head coach.  Sidney Lowe was an alum and tried his best, but just didn't cut it as the coach of the Wolfpack.  He was able to recruit decent players, but didn't get them motivated to play at their best, and had disappointing year after disappointing year.  Now Mark Gottfried is the head man at NC State, a coach who did some good things at Alabama.  And he inherits some talent.


Perhaps no one was a better example of not playing to his potential than C.J. Leslie.  He was touted as one of the best freshman in the ACC last year, but seemed to have trouble with focus at times.  He ended up scoring 11 points per game, but shot 25% from 3-point land and 54% from the line.  Leslie will have to be the main focus for the Wolfpack this year, with Tracy Smith gone.


Besides Leslie, there are other players with potential.  I have always liked Richard Howell, who has played in a supporting role but will be able to step up into the starting lineup.  And many people are high on Lorenzo Brown, who will hopefully provide some stability at a point guard spot that Javier Gonzalez did not provide the last few years.  Scott Wood is a very capable shooter that can light you up very quickly.


NC State has some tests on their schedule.  An early season game against Princeton is intriguing.  They also face two top-10 teams in Vanderbilt and Syracuse between now and Christmas.  I think NC State has the talent to make the NCAA Tournament.  If Coach Gottfried can find a lineup combination that he likes and can get the most out of players like Leslie, the other teams in the ACC have enough question marks that they can finish in the top half of the conference.  That will be a welcome change in Raleigh.

Season Preview

Erick Green

7. Virginia Tech


2010-2011 record: 22-12 (9-7 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/4 vs. Kansas State






Projected Starting Five:


F - Cadarian Raines (Sophomore)
F - Victor Davila (Senior)
F - Dorian Finney-Smith (Freshman)
G - Dorenzo Hudson (Senior)
G - Erick Green (Junior)




You can divide the Seth Greenberg regime at Virginia Tech into two different eras.  The first is the Dowdell/Gordon/Collins era.  The second is the Delaney/Allen era.  Take a look at how each four-year class has done:


Dowdell/Gordon/Collins:       67-56 (29-35 in the ACC)
                                        1 NCAA berth, 1 NIT berth


Delaney/Allen:                    87-50 (35-29 in the ACC)
                                        4 NIT berths


This is the start of era #3, with the current freshman class.  The Hokies have the chance to get off to a fresh start, putting behind them the disappointment of not making the NCAA Tournament the last couple years.  Unfortunately, the year is already getting off to a bad start.  J.T. Thompson suffered a season-ending injury in practice this week, the second straight year he will be out.  And Erick Green has an Achilles injury that may sideline him for a couple weeks.


Green is the key player for Virginia Tech this year.  He really stepped up his game in the second half of last year, and will be the emotional leader.  He will be paired in the backcourt with Dorenzo Hudson.  Hudson had a breakout year two seasons ago, but had a lingering injury that made him ineffective when he played last year.  For the Hokies to be successful, Hudson has to recapture his offense from two seasons ago.


The other big key is Cadarian Raines.  Raines has had injury problems since he got to Blacksburg, and really needs to stay healthy.  He has to provide good minutes with Thompson out.  I do expect the freshmen to provide an impact - they might not be great right away, but by the end of the year they will be counted on for a lot.


So what can we expect from this team?  Expect some growing pains at first, especially with a difficult early season schedule.  The likely home game against George Mason will be huge - if the Hokies can win that one, they will have a couple great tests at Madison Square Garden.  I do expect the freshmen to gain confidence as the year goes on and the Hokies could roll to a high finish in the conference.  But if any more injuries strike (I had them at 6 before the Thompson injury) and their depth goes away again, it could be a long year.

Season Preview

Jim Larranaga

8. Miami


2010-2011 record: 21-15 (6-10 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/6 vs. Memphis






Projected Starting Five:


C - Kenny Kadji (Sophomore)
F - DeQuan Jones (Senior)
G - Garrius Adams (Junior)
G - Durand Scott (Junior)
G - Malcolm Grant (Senior)




Having gone to a lot of George Mason games over the years, I am very familiar with Jim Larranaga.  And I would have never predicted that his next coaching job would be at Miami, a school that hasn't exactly been a model for great behavior.  So it will be very interesting to see what kind of fit Larranaga is in this program.  Frank Haith started out as a very solid coach at Miami, but over the last few years his teams consistently underachieved.  So I think the fan base let out a sigh of relief when he decided to bolt for Missouri.


What Coach Larranaga inherits is a bit of a team in flux.  The pieces are there to be an NCAA Tournament caliber team.  He has two very solid guards in Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant, who were the two leading scorers last year.  Beyond that there are some question marks.  Reggie Johnson has a lot of potential, but he will be on the bench at the start of the season with an injury.  Julian Gamble is out for the season with an injury.  And DeQuan Jones is in the middle of a battle with an NCAA, who may rule him ineligible.  Take those guys away and there are a lot of questions in the frontcourt.  The good news is the Hurricanes picked up Kenny Kadji, a transfer from Florida who didn't play much for the Gators but could pick up the slack down low.


I give Miami credit - a lot of years they play a very soft early season schedule, but they have put together a challenging slate.  The Canes will play Memphis, Purdue, West Virginia and Ole Miss in the first month of the season.  Look for them to have more of a defensive identity than they did under Coach Haith.  A lot of times near the end of games Miami would go into streetball mode, trying to play one-on-one and throwing up wild shots.  Larranaga will bring more discipline.


This team was pretty close to being good last year.  They had a stretch of four straight ACC games that they lost by four points or less.  The only two conference games they lost by double digits were both to Duke.  I think it will take a little while for Larranaga to get acclimated to his new team, especially with the injuries.  So Miami will struggle more than the experts predict (ACC media picked them 5th).  But they have a good coach who should do good things in the long run.

Season Preview

The Thrillerdome

9. Georgia Tech


2010-2011 record: 13-18 (5-11 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 6
Best non-conference game: 12/7 at Georgia




Projected Starting Five:


C - Daniel Miller (Sophomore)
F - Kammeon Holsey (Sophomore)
G - Glen Rice, Jr. (Junior)
G - Jason Morris (Sophomore)
G - Mfon Udofia (Junior)




It was only a matter of time before Paul Hewitt was no longer the coach at Georgia Tech.  Hewitt could recruit, and brought a lot of talented guys to Atlanta, but he was not a good in-game coach.  His teams were some of the sloppiest you'll see, with so many turnovers.  So it was time to make a change.  And that means Brian Gregory comes over from Dayton, where he had a decent impact on that program.


Gregory's biggest challenge is finding a replacement for Iman Shumpert.  Shumpert was one of the best players in the league last year, finishing with 17.3 points per game, and leading the team in rebounds, assists and steals.  There is no one on the current Georgia Tech roster who will be able to fill that void.  What they do have is a few decent shooters, led by Glen Rice, Jr., who was the second-leading scorer last year.  I was high on Mfon Udofia after his freshman year, but it seems that he regressed last year.  He will have to step up his game for this team to be successful.


The team will miss Brian Oliver, who was a spark before he got hurt last year.  He ended up transferring to Seton Hall.  Like last year, the team has very little in the frontcourt.  Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller, the presumed starters, combined for about eight points per game last year.  Coach Gregory has already said that he will likely use four guards on the court at the same time, but that will prove very difficult against teams like North Carolina and Florida State.


It's definitely going to be a strange year for the Yellow Jackets.  Besides a new coach, the team has no real home, with Alexander Memorial Coliseum (aka the Thrillerdome) undergoing renovations.  They will split their games this year between the Atlanta Hawks' home and Gwinett Arena.  That will make it very difficult to have a true home court advantage.  Georgia Tech does have a pretty easy schedule, with non-conference highlights being games against SEC teams Georgia and Alabama.  They also get Duke and Carolina only once, and play Boston College and Wake twice each.  That schedule is the main reason why I put them as high as #9.

Season Preview

Gary Williams - Retired

10. Maryland


2010-2011 record: 19-14 (7-9 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/4 vs. Notre Dame (in Washington, DC)




Projected Starting Five:


C - Berend Weijs (Senior)
F - James Padgett (Junior)
G - Sean Mosley (Senior)
G - Terrell Stoglin (Sophomore)
G - Nick Faust (Freshman)




It feels weird to pick Maryland to finish so low in the ACC.  I can't remember the last time they were in the bottom fourth of the league.  And that is due to two big factors.  First, the loss of Coach Gary Williams.  Williams endured his share of criticism in recent years, but the fact remains that he was a great in-game coach.  His recruiting tapered off a bit, but he almost always over-achieved with the kids that he had.  And his retirement definitely came as a surprise.  The second reason: the early departure of Jordan Williams.  He was a double-double machine last year and was clearly Maryland's best player.  Williams finished with 16.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game.


So where does that leave the Terps?  They brought in Mark Turgeon, who is a very solid coach.  He left Wichita State and Texas A&M in better places than when he got there, making the NCAA Tournament every year he was coach of the Aggies.  Turgeon inherits some talented players, including Terrell Stoglin, who had a good freshman year and was the team's second-leading scorer.  The starting lineup looks a little different for the beginning of the year than it will when we get to 2012.  Pe'Shon Howard, who was a star at times last year, suffered a preseason injury and will miss the first two months of the season.  And Alex Len, a freshman from the Ukraine, must sit out the first 10 games.  Len is being touted as a very solid player and how he performs after the suspension will go a long way to determining what kind of year it is for the Terps.


As it is, the start of the season will probably bring some growing pains.  The frontcourt is very thin and short on talent, although Terps fans are high on the promise of James Padgett.  Maryland usually plays a pretty challenging early season schedule, and this season is no exception.  They will have to face Alabama, Illinois and Notre Dame without Len and Howard.  The ACC schedule is no less forgiving - the Terps have to play two games each against North Carolina and Duke, and only get doormats Boston College and Wake Forest once.


This team will be a work in progress.  It will be up to Turgeon to instill his style on this team.  There probably will be less running up and down the court and more halfcourt sets.  They have a chance to be in the middle of the pack in the ACC if Len and freshman Nick Faust turn out to be solid players.  If not, it will probably be a long year in College Park.

Season Preview

Steve Donahue

11. Boston College


2010-2011 record: 21-13 (9-7 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 6
Best non-conference game: 11/30 vs. Penn State








Projected Starting Five:


C - Kyle Caudill (Freshman)
F - Ryan Anderson (Freshman)
G - Danny Rubin (Sophomore)
G - Matt Humphrey (Junior)
G - Gabe Moton (Sophomore)




Steve Donahue arrived at Boston College last year with fairly low expectations, and I think did a really solid job.  The team started off playing very well in the Old Spice Classic, and continued that momentum into the ACC season.  They finished with a 9-7 conference record, and I think should have gotten into the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately for BC fans, last year is in the past.  And Donahue will have a whole new challenge this year.


Remember the year after Carolina won the national title the last time?  They lost almost their entire team.  The same thing happened this offseason with BC, except they don't have the talent of Carolina's backup players on their roster to pick up the slack.  It is a major rebuilding year coming up for BC.  The top 5 scorers from last year's team are all gone.  The big loss, of course, is Reggie Jackson, a do-it-all point guard who decided to leave early for the NBA. That leaves a lot of players you've never heard of.


So who is going to step up for Boston College this year?  The leader will probably be Matt Humphrey, a transfer from Oregon.  Humphrey only started seven games in his two years with the Ducks.  The two returning players who will start are Danny Rubin and Gabe Moton, who combined to average 6.7 points per game last year.  The team brings in an astonishing nine freshmen, who will have to have an impact right away.  The one who will probably do the most is Ryan Anderson, who comes across country from California.


What Donahue will need to do is find people who at least can run his system.  If you saw his teams at Cornell, they had a pretty heavy emphasis on shooting the 3.  If he can find some outside shooters, he can have success.  Just not this season.  The ACC media picked Boston College to finish last.  I put them above Wake Forest because I have more faith in Donahue than Jeff Bzdelik.  He will get them on the right track.  BC fans will just have to be patient and maybe go to hockey games this year.

Season Preview

Jeff Bzdelik

12. Wake Forest


2010-2011 record: 8-24 (1-15 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 8
Best non-conference game: 12/3 vs. Richmond





Projected Starting Five:


C - Ty Walker (Senior)
F - Travis McKie (Sophomore)
F - Nikita Mescheriakov (Senior)
G - C.J. Harris (Junior)
G - Tony Chennault (Sophomore)




What can you say about Wake Forest last year?  They were very difficult to watch, maybe the worst team ever fielded in the history of the ACC.  Jeff Bzdelik came in as coach, and inherited a team with very little talent.  What's worse is that the team never seemed to establish an identity on the court.  They played about as undisciplined as I've seen, chucking up shots that were way off most of the time, and never developing a game rhythm.  The lone bright spot on the team was freshman Travis McKie, who led the team in scoring and rebounding.


It's hard to imagine much changing this year.  The good news is McKie is back, along with solid guard C.J. Harris and promising point guard Tony Chennault, who got hurt midway through last year.  The bad news is that offseason turmoil continued, and led to the departure of Ari Stewart and J.T. Terrell (Terrell was the second-leading scorer last year).


The schedule sets up decently well for some wins.  Wake doesn't really have a whole lot of challenging non-conference games, and they only have to play North Carolina and Florida State once.  But I just can't believe that this team is going to be even marginally better than it was last year.  The talent just isn't there.  I haven't seen anything from Bzdelik to suggest that he's a good coach, and he is losing the grip on his program.  Lawrence Joel used to be one of the best home arenas in the ACC, and it was mostly empty last year.  I have a hard time seeing more than three conference wins for Wake, and that's with a down ACC.

Season Primer


It's getting to be close to late October, and that means the start of the basketball season isn't far away.  So what's been going on and what can we expect to see on the court this year?  Here are a few things to look out for:


What's New:


-Expansion


The big topic over the last month or so has been expansion.  It looks like we are moving more and more toward superconferences (which, for the record, I hate).  For the ACC, that means the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh.  There will almost certainly be more to come.  The Orange and Panthers won't be in the ACC this season, but there certainly will be plenty of talk about expansion and what the future of the ACC will look like for the months to come.  Across the college basketball landscape, you will see some changes this year, with the Pac 10 expanding to include Colorado and Utah, and the Big Ten expanding to include Nebraska.


-Coaches


There has been a ton of coach turnover in the ACC over the past two years.  Last year we saw new head coaches at Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest.  This year we have some more.  Mark Turgeon takes over for legend Gary Williams at Maryland, the first time someone other than Gary will be on the sidelines for the Terps since the 80s.  Mark Gottfried is the new head man at NC State, looking to restore the team to at least what it was under Herb Sendek.
Georgia Tech has a new head coach in Brian Gregory, coming over from Dayton.  The Jackets have the added obstacle of splitting their time between two arenas while their home is renovated.  And Miami will be looking to grow under Jim Larranaga, who did wonders at George Mason.


-Departing Players


A lot of terrific players graduated or left for the NBA.  Among them: Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, Tracy Smith, Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Jordan Williams, Chris Singleton and Reggie Jackson.  Those are players that are tough to replace.  However, there are some players that chose to remain in school (most of them are at UNC), and should be stars to watch this coming year.


Preseason Thoughts


There has been a lot of chatter recently about how the ACC has lost some of its luster in recent years and needed a boost with Pitt and Syracuse.  The conference has had some down years, sure, but has a chance to prove itself.  There are two ways you can earn respect as a league: win your non-conference games and win in the NCAA Tournament.  It will be up to the teams not named Duke and Carolina to prove that they belong as upper echelon teams in college basketball.  Whether that can happen this year with so much coaching turnover remains to be seen.  But I am looking forward to another season.


Preseason Poll


ACC media week was earlier this week, and here's how the pundits see this season shaping out:


1. UNC
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia
5. Miami
6. Virginia Tech
7. Clemson
8. NC State
9. Maryland
10. Georgia Tech
11. Wake Forest
12. Boston College


I'll have my list as the next couple weeks go on, with a breakdown of each team.

Season in Review


Wake Forest
8-24 (1-15 ACC)


Finally, we get to Wake Forest.  It's hard to sugarcoat this: Wake had one of the worst seasons in ACC history.  It was just a dismal year, right from the start.  The most telling statistic for Wake's year I think is this: there were only 2 conference games in which Wake didn't lose by double digits.  That is just awful.  Wake didn't have the talent or competitiveness to stay in ballgames.


The year began with a 10 point loss at home to Stetson.  It didn't get any better from there.  The non-conference continued with losses to VCU, Winthrop, UNC Wilmington, Xavier, Presbyterian, Richmond and Gonzaga.  When they started ACC play the Deacons were 7-8.  They only won one game the rest of the season, a 5 point home win over UVA.  Even against bad teams in the conference Wake was not competitive.  In their two games against Georgia Tech, they lost by a combined 61 points!


Wake was fairly balanced scoring-wise.  Their leading scorer, freshman Travis McKie, had 13 points per game.  They had a hard time settling on a rotation - 9 players averaged at least 14 minutes a game, and no one played more than 32 minutes a game.  This team had a combination of a lot of bad shooters, poor rebounding, and lack of effort on defense.  While it's hard to hang a coach out after one year, Jeff Bzdelik did nothing to show that he will have any success at all.


Biggest Win:
76-71 vs. UVA on 1/29


There isn't much to choose from here.  UVA was struggling at the time and Wake caught them at the right moment.  They finished well down the stretch, overcoming a 10 point deficit in the second half.  It was one of the few times this year that Wake played well as a team.


Worst Loss:
Too many to pick one


Here are some great candidates: that opening loss to a Stetson team that went 8-23.  How about a 9 point home loss to a Winthrop team that went 13-17?  Or a home loss to a Presbyterian team that went 13-18?  This is a team that lost at home by 26 points to Georgia Tech.  They lost at home to NC State by 25 points.  Way too many embarrassing losses to pick just one.


Postseason Play:


The postseason was mercifully short for Wake Forest.  They came into the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed, showed very little life in their first round game against Boston College, and lost by 14.


Looking Ahead:


The good news for Wake is that their roster remains fairly intact from last year.  Gary Clark is the only senior of significance that leaves.  They do have some talented young players, like McKie.  But how good is it when a roster returns that only won 8 games?  Coach Bzdelik is really going to have to show some improvement next year or he's going to be on a very short leash.  It's hard to imagine they will be able to come even close to a .500 record in the conference next year.

Season in Review


Virginia Tech
22-12 (9-7 ACC)


I think there are two ways you can look at Virginia Tech's season.  One is that the Hokies were predicted in the Top 25 this year, supposed to make the tournament, and didn't.  Another is that the team had to deal with several significant injuries but managed to battle back and have a pretty decent season. Regardless, the fact is that the Hokies again had a year where they played pretty well but fell just short of the Big Dance.


What happened in the first month of the season went a long way to determining the rest of the year.  The team struggled out of the gates, losing games they really needed to win, especially back-to-back home games against Purdue and UVA.  They did manage to find their rhythm in late December, with a stretch where they won 9 out of 10.  The only loss in that stretch was a game at Chapel Hill that they really should have won.


The season was highlighted by a win over then #1 Duke in Blacksburg.  Unfortunately, they followed that up with two stinkers against Boston College and Clemson, two fellow bubble teams.  The Hokies played well in the ACC Tournament, surviving a crazy game against Florida State, but that wasn't enough.  The season ended once again in the NIT.


Obviously the main problem the team had all season was the lack of depth.  They were routinely only playing 6 guys, and if anyone got into foul trouble that was a big problem.  Players like Erick Green and Victor Davila were able to step up and really help this team out, but they were doing it with absolutely no bench.  The team's two stars, Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen, had fine seasons, and were leaned on time and again to produce big numbers.


Biggest Win:
64-60 vs. Duke on 2/26


This was an easy choice.  Virginia Tech has had a decent history against Duke, and they really played at a very high level in this game.  They knew it was an important game, and came out with a lot of energy.  There was a lot of back and forth in this one but in the end the Hokies made plays down the stretch and Duke didn't.


Worst Loss:
57-54 vs. UVA on 12/5


I think that this is really the defining loss for the season and the biggest detriment for the NCAA hopes.  Coming off a tough loss in overtime against Purdue, the Hokies were completely flat in the first half and let UVA get out to a big lead.  They were never able to get over the hump and ended up losing by 3.  This was the first of two losses to UVA this season.


Postseason Play:


The Hokies won two games in the ACC Tournament for the first time, coasting to an easy win over Georgia Tech before gutting out somewhat of a miracle against Florida State.  It looked like Tech had lost, only to see a final basket negated on review.  Playing with a limited bench, they predictably lost in the semis to Duke in a game that wasn't very close.  There were high hopes for the NIT despite the sting of the NCAA snub, but it wasn't meant to be.  The Hokies beat Bethune-Cookman easily, but lost in the second round to Wichita State in a game that was very hotly contested.


Looking Ahead:


It's hard to predict what the next step is for the Hokies.  On the one hand, they do lose a lot.  Delaney, Allen and Terrell Bell all graduate, taking with them about 39 points per game.  Manny Atkins this week decided to transfer to Georgia State, leaving them without another potential starter.  On the other hand, Dorenzo Hudson and J.T. Thompson are expected back from injury and both should be solid contributors.  The team is also bringing in a highly regarded recruiting class with some players that could start right away.  In a year when it will most likely be UNC, then Duke, then everyone else, Tech could fight for that third spot.

Season in Review

Virginia
16-15 (7-9 ACC)

It's easy to be pessimistic about the UVA basketball team, given the recent lack of success and the fact that they only finished one game above .500 this year.  I would argue that things are definitely looking up in Charlottesville, with a coach who knows what he's doing, and a strong finish to the season.

The first half of the season was pretty polarizing.  UVA had some games where they really played well, including back-to-back road wins at Minnesota and Virginia Tech.  They also lost by 43 points to Washington, and lost back-to-back home games to Seattle and Iowa State.  Part of the problem was the fact that their best player, Mike Scott, was hurt.  Scott only played 10 games.

The start to conference play wasn't promising.  UVA started out 3-8, with some close tough losses.  Once the team started to gel with its younger players, they started playing better, winning 4 of the last 5 ACC games, including two road wins.

The thing about playing UVA is you know that they are going to play strong defense.  Tony Bennett's teams can really shut you down and make you look bad on offense.  The games can look ugly, but they are effective (see the 49-47 win over Clemson as an example).  If Virginia makes their 3 pointers, they are tough to beat.  Once Scott got hurt, it became a leader by committee.  It really wasn't one guy producing all the scoring for the team.  Mustapha Farrakhan had his best year by far, but when he wasn't scoring someone like Joe Harris or K.T. Harrell would pick up the slack.

Biggest Win:
87-79 at Minnesota on 11/29

This was definitely a surprising win for UVA over a Minnesota team that at the time was ranked 15 in the nation.  The Cavaliers used a very strong second half performance and a double-double from Scott to earn a relatively easy win.  This, coupled with their road win against Virginia Tech in their next game, was their best stretch of the season.

Worst Loss:
59-53 vs. Seattle on 12/22

If the two game stretch in November was the best UVA played this year, the late part of December was the worst.  After scratching out a last second win over Norfolk State, UVA lost this game to an independent Seattle team that went 11-20 this year.  Seattle's only other game against an ACC team was a 29 point loss to Maryland.

Postseason Play:

The postseason was about as crushing as one team could go through.  UVA was in control of their first round ACC Tournament game against Miami, up by 10 points in the last 40 seconds.  Then in a comedy of errors fashion they blew the lead away, losing in overtime.  It was an abrupt and shocking end to the season.

Looking Ahead:

The big news in the off-season is the fact that Scott was granted a medical redshirt and will be able to play next year.  When he played, Scott averaged a double-double and is easily the team's best player.  Beyond him, they have a solid group of young players, led by Harris and point guard Jontell Evans.  The team loses Farrakhan and Will Sherrill, but returns a good group of players that seem to have bought into Coach Bennett's system.

Season in Review

N.C. State
15-16 (5-11 ACC)

It was another lost year in Raleigh, as the Wolfpack once again underachieved and seemed to just be playing out the string the second half of the year.  As a result, the team is starting fresh, as Sidney Lowe finally got the boot.

State had reasonably high expectations going into the year, with a talented class of freshmen and some good returning players.  They never really got any momentum, though.  The best non-conference win that the Wolfpack had was probably a 13 point neutral site win over George Mason, although Mason was struggling at the time.  They lost their ACC/Big 10 Challenge game by 39 points at Wisconsin.

In conference play, it didn't get much better.  NC State won only 5 games, which included 2 wins against Wake Forest.  Wake was the only team they beat on the road.  8 of their 11 ACC losses were by double digits.  It was just a rough year all around.

The Wolfpack were led by Tracy Smith, who had a solid year, but still underperformed at 14 points per game.  CJ Leslie was very highly touted, but struggled much of the early part of the year.  Ryan Harrow was another solid freshman, but he was injured in the middle point of the ACC season, and Javier Gonzalez just didn't cut it at point guard in his absence.  Besides Scott Wood, the team had very few 3 point threats.  Take a look at some of these 3 point percentages:

CJ Leslie - 25%
Ryan Harrow - 22%
Lorenzo Brown - 30%
Javier Gonzalez - 29%

Biggest Win:
69-61 vs. Clemson on 2/17

The only conference win NC State had against a team that made the NCAA Tournament was this one over Clemson.  In their previous game against Clemson, they had blown a huge first half lead, so it must have felt good to get some payback.  This was also the second game of their only two game win streak in ACC play.

Worst Loss:
87-48 at Wisconsin on 12/1

NC State didn't have any embarrassing losses to really bad teams on their schedule, so I picked this 39 point defeat.  At one point State was down 52-21.  They finished the game shooting 31% and letting Wisconsin shoot 50%.  That is not a formula for success.

Postseason Play:

There isn't much to say about NC State's postseason except that it was short.  They played Maryland in the first round of the ACC Tournament and lost by 8.  Maryland controlled the game, leading the whole time, and put State out of its misery.

Looking Ahead:

Sidney Lowe is out and Mark Gottfried is in at NC State.  It was well known that State chased some big names, including Shaka Smart of VCU, but struck out.  Gottfried's hire also came with some controversial comments back and forth between Athletic Director Debbie Yow and Gary Williams.  All that being said, Gottfried isn't a bad coach.  He might not be the perfect fit for the NC State job, but he is definitely an upgrade over Lowe.

Gottfried does inherit some talent.  Leslie is staying in school, and should be an improved player in his sophomore year.  Richard Howell can be a capable inside scorer, and Wood should provide some outside scoring.  They do lose a fair amount off this year's team, though: Smith is graduating, along with Gonzalez.  Harrow decided to transfer, which will leave a definite hole in the backcourt.  If State can find a point guard, they can fight their way back into contention.