Duke picked to win the ACC in Coach K’s last season and has the preseason POY
Duke starts coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season in the familiar position of ACC favorite.
The Blue Devils are the choice to win the ACC championship, according to voting of media who attended the ACC Tip Off event in Charlotte last week.
Though Duke has not won the ACC regular-season championship since 2010, this is the seventh time in the last nine seasons the Blue Devils have been picked as the preseason favorites. The Blue Devils have won ACC tournament titles in 2011, 2017 and 2019, giving the school 15 ACC tournament titles under Krzyzewski and 21 overall.
Duke has finished first in the ACC regular season 12 times under Krzyzewski.
UNC, in its first season with Hubert Davis as its coach following Roy Williams’ retirement, is picked No. 3 behind Duke and Florida State.
Krzyzewski, in his 42nd season as Duke’s coach, announced his retirement plans in June. Associate head coach Jon Scheyer will become the Blue Devils’ head coach following this season.
Duke freshman Paolo Banchero, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound forward, was selected as the preseason player of the year and freshman of the year while also landing on the preseason All-ACC first team.
UNC’s Armando Bacot joins Banchero on the first team along with Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim, Virginia Tech’s Keve Aluma and Isaiah Wong of Miami.
Two Duke players, junior forward Wendell Moore and sophomore center Mark Williams, were selected to the preseason All-ACC second team. UNC’s Caleb Love, a sophomore guard, was also selected to the second team. All three of those players tied for the final spot on the second team, which includes Notre Dame’s Prentiss Hubb, Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe, Virginia’s Kihei Clark and Malik Williams of Louisville.
Duke received 47 first-place votes from the 81-person panel. Florida State received 14, followed by Virginia (nine) UNC and Virginia Tech (five) and Louisville (one).
Following Duke, Florida State and UNC in the poll were Virginia at No 4, Virginia Tech at No. 5 and Louisville at No. 6.
Syracuse is No. 7 with Notre Dame No. 8 and N.C. State at No. 9 and reigning ACC champion Georgia Tech at No. 10.
The bottom five, in order, are Clemson, Miami, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Boston College.
Banchero, already projected to be one of the top picks in next summer’s NBA Draft, received 28 votes for player of the year. Aluma was next with 16, followed by Boeheim (13), Bacot (12), Clark (five) and Moore (three) with Love and Duke’s Williams each receiving two votes.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 9:09 AM.