By Aidan Joly
Less than two months out from the return of college basketball, we are going to start conference previews for the season.
First up is the ACC.
First off, it’s no secret that this league is losing prominence nationally. In 2022-23, the league failed to impress for the second season in a row and only sent five teams to the NCAA tournament, but saved some level of face with a surprise Miami run to the Final Four.
More than half of the league has coaches who have been with their programs less than three years. Many of these teams have had major roster overhauls in the off-season, but the league still boasts a good amount of talent after faring well in the transfer portal.
Right now, the league probably has about seven teams with realistic NCAA tournament chances, and one with national title aspirations. Let’s get into each of the 15 teams.
Duke Blue Devils
2022-23: 27-9 (14-6 ACC), lost in Round of 32
The Blue Devils had high expectations heading into the NCAA tournament, which made a loss to Tennessee in the round of 32 a disappointing end to Jon Scheyer’s first season as head coach. However, all things considered, it was a respectable season after a roster overhaul.
This year’s edition of the Blue Devils brings backs four starters and five of its six top scorers, along with one of the best classes of freshmen in the country. Kyle Filipowski had 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last year as a freshman, and should come back even stronger as a sophomore. The return of Jeremy Roach is huge for the guard position, an efficient player who is sure to be even better. Tyrese Proctor will be a good partner for him on offense.
The additions of freshmen Sean Stewart, Jared McCain, Caleb Foster and TJ Power, all top-20 recruits, will be big reinforcements.
The expectations will only get higher in Scheyer’s second season, and a national title has to be the goal.
Virginia Cavaliers
2022-23: 25-8 (15-5 ACC), lost in Round of 64
After falling victim to an upset in the first round of the tournament last March, Tony Bennett’s squad faced a major roster overhaul after Kihei Clark, Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner and Ben Vander Plas all graduated, and Kadin Shedrick transferred.
The Cavaliers do bring in Merrimack transfer Jordan Minor, Georgetown transfer Dante Harris, St. Thomas transfer Andrew Rhode and a few others in the portal, but would have likely been staring down an NIT appearance if not for the return of Reece Beekman, who brings back some much-needed continuity for the Cavaliers.
It’s no secret that outside of the 2019 national title that Virginia has struggled to compete in March, but Tony Bennett always figures it out and this season should be more of the same.
North Carolina Tar Heels
2022-23: 20-13 (11-9 ACC), no postseason
Year two under Hubert Davis did not go as well as year one, going from preseason national title favorites to notoriously declining a bid to the NIT, which makes much more sense now that most of the roster left.
Davis has had issues with playing time. Starters seemingly play the whole game, while the bench barely plays at all. Changes will have to be made with Davis’ coaching philosophy in that regard. Former top recruits Puff Johnson, Dontrez Styles, D’Marco Dunn, Seth Trimble, Jalen Washington and Tyler Nickel are all gone after not getting much of a chance in two years or less of development.
And it just might, with Armando Bacot coming back for another year. The Tar Heels also bring in Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan, Louisville transfer Jae’lyn Withers, Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram and Brown transfer Paxton Wojcik, among others. They also have a decent recruiting class coming in.
The overarching theme here is that on paper, the Tar Heels have one of the most talented rosters in the league. The question will be, can Davis make a simple but important coaching adjustment?
Florida State Seminoles
2022-23: 9-23 (7-13 ACC), no postseason
FSU had arguably its best team in the Leonard Hamilton era in 2019-20 and then made the Sweet 16 in 2021, its second second weekend appearance in five years.
Since then, the past two seasons have featured a ton of injuries that made it impossible for even one of the deepest rosters in the country to compete. At one point last year the Seminoles had a rotation of just seven players, most of them freshman and ideally wouldn’t have been playing much if the team had less injuries. The strange 16-game suspension of Baba Miller didn’t help, either.
Thus, this year’s roster is athletic and should result in a better season than last year. Miller is back, as well as Cam’Ron Fletcher, who missed time last year when he was hurt. Sophomore De’Ante Green can certainly make a step forward too.
Additions of true point guard Primo Spears, as well as Jaylan Gainey and Josh Nickelberry should keep the roster deep.
That’s if, of course, they can stay healthy.
Virginia Tech Hokies
2022-23: 19-15 (8-12 ACC), lost in first round of NIT
Despite coach Mike Young not playing as deep of a rogation as Hamilton and Florida State, the Hokies faced a similar issue that the Seminoles did this past season with injuries.
As a result, Sean Pedulla, Hunter Catoor and Justyn Mutts were forced to be iron men after it turned out that only about six players were prepared for roles in high-major college basketball, and the results were not good, with inefficient shooting that did not result in a lot of winning.
Two of the three in that group (Pedulla and Catoor) will return, so at least there is some continuity there. A four-star recruit in Brandon Rechsteiner is a remarkably similar player to Pedulla, so he should help out in a big way quickly. Transfer portal additions in Mekhi Long (Old Dominion) and the aforementioned Tyler Nickel should play roles for the Hokies as well.
With more able contributors, the NCAA tournament should be a realistic goal for this group, but it does need the ball to bounce the right way from time to time.
Syracuse Orange
2022-23: 17-15 (10-10 ACC), no postseason
Of course, the Orange had the most notable coaching change of the off-season when 78-year-old Jim Boeheim handed the keys to Adrian Autry after 47 years, a career that included 34 NCAA tournament appearances, five Final Fours and the 2003 national championship.
Autry, the former associate head coach, inherits a roster chalk-full of young talent, including a former five-star recruit and a member of last year’s All-Freshman team.
Notre Dame transfer JJ Starling was the one who was on the All-Freshman team, and he will team up with Judah Mintz to form what should be one of the best backcourts in the league. Benny Williams was inconsistent as a sophomore, but showed some serious flashes and should show more this season and hopefully be more consistent. Chris Bell and Maliq Brown both had their moments as freshman, too.
Despite Autry working with Boeheim for 12 years, he has been clear that he will move away from Boeheim’s patented zone defense in favor of man-to-man. This should help out their defensive rebounding woes and bring them into the 21st century a bit when it comes to defense.
All in all, with the young roster, expectations should be reasonably high for the Orange in Autry’s inaugural campaign.
Miami Hurricanes
2022-23: 29-8 (15-5 ACC), lost in national semifinals
The Hurricanes made a surprise run to the Final Four last March, but it will be tough to follow that up this season.
Replacing reigning ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong will be tough, but Bensley Joseph will try to do it after coming off the bench last year. The team will also deal with the loss of star forward Jordan Miller, which will be tasked to Florida State transfer Matthew Cleveland. Cleveland is a great addition and as close to a player to Miller that they could have gotten, maybe Cleveland is slight less strong.
Nijal Pack, Norchad Omier and Wooga Poplar return, bringing some decent pieces back this season.
The starters won’t be the problem as much as the bench and depth, which may do the Canes in this season. But they can certainly try, although an NCAA bid might be tough to come by.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
2022-23: 19-14 (10-10 ACC), no postseason
Steve Forbes first three seasons in Winston-Salem have been moderately successful, but have still yet to produce a NCAA tournament appearance.
Several players, including Alondes Williams, Jake LaRavia and Tyree Appleby, have done well after struggling in other offensive systems.
This year’s team will bring back Cam Hildreth, who will likely play a major role and they also bring in Central Michigan transfer Boopie Miller and former top recruits Hunter Sallis and Efton Reid, both coming out of Gonzaga. Both are skilled players who will be looking for a new opportunity playing under Forbes.
Their presence, along with capable players in Andrew Carr and Damari Monsanto and freshman Parker Friedrichsen should make for a team that threats on offense. The question is defense, which hasnt seemingly been a priority of some Forbes teams in recent years.
If things go right, an NCAA tournament bid could be in the cards, which would be a good place to be in year four.
Boston College Eagles
2022-23: 16-17 (9-11 ACC), no postseason
The 2022-23 season was a tale of two schedules for the Eagles. It went 7-6 against a non-very-impressive non-conference slate, which included losses to New Hampshire, Tarleton State and Maine. It did this without Quinton Post, one of the better players on the team. If he had been healthy, BC may have made some sort of postseason for what would have been just the third time since 2009.
Post is back this year, though. Prince Aligbe and Devon McGlockton both showed promise as freshman and should make leaps as sophomores. Charleton Southern transfer Claudell Harris is at least an equal player to replace Makai Ashton-Langford, if not an upgrade. Jaeden Zachary has a chance to re-discover himself after struggling last year, and two former solid recruits in Chas Kelly and Donald Hand will have roles off the bench.
If things go well, this seems to be the year that Earl Grant can bring the Eagles back to some sort of postseason. Even the NIT would be a huge plus.
Clemson Tigers
2022-23: 23-11 (14-6 ACC), lost in NIT first round
The season ended on a pair of bad notes in both missing the NCAA tournament and then losing in the first round of the NIT, but overall it was a better season than expected.
The biggest returnee is Chase Hunter, who is back after averaging 13.8 points per game this past season. Syracuse transfer Joe Girard is in theory an upgrade to Brevin Galloway on offense, but he will need to take less shots, which taking too many would likely reduce Clemson’s efficiency on offense, something it did well with last year.
Air Force transfer Jake Heidbreder should be an upgrade over Alex Hemenway. However, Girard and Heidbreder will likely halt the development of former recruit Dillon Hunter, who will need to have at least a small role in Clemson’s success. Hunter Tyson will be missed on offense.
It seems like Clemson has a lot of guys, but them meshing together will be the question. The Tigers could certainly be good again, but will need a lot of things to go right for that to happen.
Pittsburgh Panthers
2022-23: 24-12 (14-6 ACC), lost in Round of 32
Pitt was one of the major feel-good stories in college basketball last year, Jeff Capel having a breakthrough year and the program making its first NCAA tournament since 2016.
With a lot of departures, the Panthers will likely struggle on offense and overall, take a step back. Really the only core player who is back is Blake Hinson, who wasn’t particularly close to the team’s most important player in 2022-23.
There are Spanish twins Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham, who could make up a lethal frontcourt, but both will need to fill out more of their potential, considering their respective size at 6-11 and 7-0.
High Point transfer Zach Austin is here, as is Rhode Island transfer Ishmael Leggett. Their roles are yet to be seen.
All in all, Capel probably bought himself two more years with last year’s performance, provided his players improve and the season isn’t a disaster. But don’t expect last year again.
NC State Wolf Pack
2022-23: 23-11 (12-8 ACC), lost in Round of 64
Coach Kevin Keatts did a solid job with a huge roster turnover last year, getting the program back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018.
It’s another off-season of major roster turnover in Raleigh, in particular losing Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner to graduation.
In theory, Arizona State transfer DJ Horne and North Carolina A&T transfer Kam Woods are capable of replacing Smith and Joiner in the backcourt, but that level of production shouldn’t be expected, at least right off the bat.There will be more opportunities for Casey Morsell too, who broke out a bit this past year. Former Kansas recruit MJ Rice is here too after struggling to get his footing in Lawrence.
In the frontcourt, it is returner DJ Burns, Clemson transfer Ben Middleton and another returner in Ernest Ross, a former top-60 recruit who has not lived up to his hype so far. This is an important year for him.
Keatts did one of the best jobs in the ACC last year in simply making the tournament, but it’ll be hard to replicate with a paper roster that is less talented. Stranger things have happened, though.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2022-23: 15-18 (6-14 ACC), no postseason
After anther season of struggling, Georgia Tech parted ways with Josh Pastner.
The Yellow Jackets brought in Damon Stoudamire. It is an interesting hire to stay the least. He went an unimpressive 71-77 in five seasons with Pacific from 2016-2021 and had been an assistant with the Boston Celtics since. His NBA name is a recruiting tool, which helps matters.
There isn’t a ton here, but the Yellow Jackets do have one player worth writing home about in Miles Kelly, a perimeter volume shooter who really did well last season. Florida transfer Kowacie Reeves has a good reputation, even if the stats haven’t shown up yet. Juniors Lance Terry and Dallan Coleman are both good perimeter shooters, so the Yellow Jacket have all of that going for them as a dangerous team from behind the arc. Ole Miss transfer Amaree Abram helps there, too.
It’ll be a four-guard lineup with either Western Carolina transfer Tyzhaun Claude or NC State transfer Ebenezer Dowuona in the post, so there will be some defense and rebounding questions.
It’s tough to gauge how Georgia Tech will be this season. Seemingly, it’ll live by the three and die by the three.
Louisville Cardinals
2022-23: 4-28 (2-18 ACC), no postseason
Kenny Payne’s first season at the helm was nothing short of a disaster. Payne had some roster turnover but there was talent, a lot of the issues seemed to be coaching-related.
So, of course there was a mass exodus. Most notably, El Ellis and Jae’lyn Withers are gone, both of their best players. Sydney Curry is gone, too. Offensive struggles were expected, but it wasn’t supposed to be that bad, with the Cardinals in the bottom third of the country in several offensive categories, and much worse than when Chris Mack was fired midway through the 2021-22 season and Mike Pegues ran the team in the interim.
Payne was known as a good recruiter, but his top get this off-season was Skyy Clark, a former top recruit who struggled mightily at Illinois and bizarrely leaving the team mid-season, announcing his intention to transfer just hours after the Illini were eliminated from the NCAA tournament (without him). A former five-star recruit, Trentyn Flowers, l eft the program over the summer to play professional overseas instead of play overseas after experiencing the program briefly. Not much talent is there otherwise.
Overall, the roster is slightly more talented, but it will likely take some major improvements for Payne to keep his job beyond this season.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2022-23: 11-21 (3-17 ACC), no postseason
Last year’s Notre Dame team underachieved and played with remarkably little energy, leading Mike Brey, the most successful coach in the program’s history, to announce his retirement in February.
Replacing Brey is Micah Shrewsberry, who the Irish were able to lure from Penn State after he had a successful two seasons in Happy Valley.
Shrewsberry is easily one of the top coaches in the country right now, but there was next to nothing he could do to avoid a near-complete roster turnover.
There won’t be any success in this first year with a roster that might be one of the worst in Power 6. Nobody on the roster has ever averaged more than 4.4 points per game at the college level – that would be Julian Roper at Northwestern last season.
Where will points come from? Micah’s son Braeden, a four-star freshman, will probably get opportunities, as will top-70 recruit Carey Booth. Sophomore J.R. Konieczny, who played sparingly last year, might emerge as the top scorer.
Simply put, this is a complete rebuild job and winning right now isn’t realistic. But, could things go worse than last year? Probably not. And it’s realistic to think just about everyone will return for year two, and we already know Shrewsberry’s ability to build up a program and develop players.
AJ Hoops 