UNC’s Roy Williams embraces role of the favorite at ACC’s media day

Overlooked and under the radar are where most coaches prefer to be. Not Roy Williams.

The North Carolina coach has always embraced the role of the favorite. The Tar Heels were picked by the media to win the ACC on Wednesday at Operation Basketball in Charlotte.

For some coaches, that can cause some uneasiness or additional pressure.

“It doesn’t bother me,” said Williams, whose team returns its top four scorers from a 26-win, Sweet 16 team.

Williams pointed out that his 2009 team was the first unanimous preseason No. 1 in the AP poll and picked to win the ACC.

“We were really good,” Williams said of his second national title team in ’09. “I don’t think we’re at that level yet but the good news is we have a whole season to play.”

This year’s team got 60 of 89 first-place votes on Wednesday. Virginia, which has finished first in the regular season the past two years, got 18 votes.

Replacing starters

With their experience the Tar Heels, 26-12 last season, have a bit of a head start on the rest of the Triangle. Duke, 35-4 last season, has to replace all but one starter from 2015 national championship team. The Blue Devils were picked third, behind Virginia.

N.C. State, 22-14 and a Sweet 16 team last season, has to replace its top four scorers. The Wolfpack was picked eighth by the media.

“I like that,” junior point guard Cat Barber said.

Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried wasn’t as sure. He joked his team was bit too high.

“I would have picked us 12th,” Gottfried said.

Being picked first by the media hasn’t meant too much the last four years. Duke, the past two years, N.C. State in 2013 and UNC in 2012 were the preseason choices. The Tar Heels won the regular season in ’12 but not the ACC tournament.

There have been four different ACC champions (the tournament winner) the past four years and three different teams have won the regular season.

“I think that’s great for the league,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of the diversity at the top of the league.

Notre Dame won the ACC title last year on the strength of a pair of seniors. The Fighting Irish will have to replace Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton but the media was bullish on their chances of reloading. Mike Brey’s team was picked fourth, one spot ahead of Miami, along with Virginia and UNC one of the veteran teams in the league.

“I think, as a team, we enjoy being under the radar,” Notre Dame forward Zach Auguste said. “It just makes it that much sweeter when we handle our business and we win it.”

Veteran Tar Heels

The common thread between the recent ACC winners has been experience. Florida State (2012), Miami (2013), Virginia (2014) and Notre Dame last year all relied on older, experienced lineups.

No one in the ACC has more back than the Tar Heels, who are led by senior guard Marcus Paige, the preseason ACC player of the year.

UNC also has two veteran forwards in senior Brice Johnson and junior Kennedy Meeks.

“I look at North Carolina right now, they have Paige back, Brice back, Kennedy back, Justin Jackson back,” Gottfried said.

“When you have that group that comes back and you have an abundance of upperclassmen, and they’ve all been key players, in college basketball that puts you at a whole other level right away.”

Meeks, like his coach, enjoys the view from in front.

“It’s a great opportunity for us,” Meeks said. “This is a team that likes pressure.”

Duke reloads

After losing three “one and done” first-round picks from last year’s team, Duke is a different position, one Krzyzewski is getting used to.

The Blue Devils have relied on different one-and-done stars in three of the last four years. Krzyzewski has reloaded with four more McDonald’s All-Americans and one of the best freshmen classes in the country.

Sophomore guard Grayson Allen, the only freshman holdover from last year, is expected to be one of Duke’s leaders.

“I love that kid,” Krzyzewski said of Allen, who was particularly outstanding for the Blue Devils in the Final Four.

When asked about his new freshmen – point guard Derryck Thronton, shooting guard Luke Kennard, wing Brandon Ingram and big man Chase Jeter – Krzyzewski balked.

“I’d rather not make predictions about my freshmen,” Krzyzewski said.

Ingram, a prep star at Kinston who was recruited by all three Triangle schools, was picked as the preseason freshman of the year.

There were plenty of others in the prediction business on Wednesday. Favorite, underdog, middle of the pack, end of the line, it doesn’t really matter in October.

“People are going to say what they want to say,” Barber said. “The thing about basketball is you never know what’s going to happen. It’s all crazy.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 6:12 PM with the headline "UNC’s Roy Williams embraces role of the favorite at ACC’s media day."