ACC Basketball 2024-25 Preview
After a successful SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 Preview, it's time to complete the traditional power-four with the ACC! Rankings and analysis per team, all available below:
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season. This is the fourth one after reviewing the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here. Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. North Carolina
While most preseason buzz went to their eternal rival, North Carolina silently secured themselves with a loaded roster, led by RJ Davis. The ACC Player of the Year is one of the contenders for National Player of the Year this upcoming season, and Coach Davis secured solid rotational pieces in Cade Tyson (Belmont), and Ven-Allen Lubin (Vanderbilt) who’ll be impactful players right out of the gates.
More importantly, the Tar Heels put themselves in a fantastic position to win with freshmen. Ian Jackson and Drake Powell will be vital parts of a North Carolina team aiming to head to their second Final Four appearance in the last four years. Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble are two other names that will carry more responsibilities.
The X factor for the Tar Heels is Jalen Washington, who’ll have to step up in more traditional lineups to compensate for this team’s lack of depth among true fives. The program’s roster continuity is the biggest reason behind its number-one ranking.
2. Duke
Coach Scheyer built a team that’s probably the best in the whole country—on paper. They get the consensus number one overall incoming freshmen in Cooper Flagg while building around him with notable veterans such as Tyrese Proctor, Mason Gillis, and Sion James. Their star-studded freshman class also features three other five-stars in Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel, and Isaiah Evans.
As college basketball becomes older and older, it’s proven more risky to build around freshmen. The Blue Devils anticipated taking on a tough non-conference schedule to be ready before the regular season starts. Knowing how locked in Coach Scheyer is, you just know Duke will be ready.
Although they have much more individual quality than their eternal inner-state rival, the lack of experience will put more pressure on the freshmen to be consistent factors in their played minutes, which is not feasible in the long run.
3. Wake Forest
Coach Forbes enters his fifth year, and that’s where we’ll see him getting good returns on his heavy investments in establishing a winning culture. The Demon Deacons managed to keep both all-conference caliber players Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth. On top of that, they yet again brought in highly-touted freshmen who had disappointing seasons, with Omaha Billiew being an example.
It was clear Wake Forest needed a quality impulse for their frontcourt, and they brought in a potential defensive stud. If Coach Forbes can get returns on his untapped potential as he did with Hunter Sallis last season, the Demon Deacons may have found their missing piece to be a consistent top-25 team in the country this season. They aren’t at the level of their above-mentioned rivals, but the first program in the second tier.
4. Virginia
Never doubt Coach Bennett. And he had a good summer by keeping Andrew Rohde and Isaac McKneely. While playing at a slow pace, Virginia kept opponents under 60 points more often than not, however, it had no added value because they failed to put points on the board consistently. That’s what they addressed in the portal by adding Jalen Warley and TJ Power.
While Warley has had a solid collegiate career so far at Florida State, the highly-touted Power is this team’s X factor. He had a limited role at Duke and will embrace more freedom to express his creativity as a scorer. On top of that, Dai Dai Ames is another portal homerun, as the 6-foot-1 leading guard fits Virginia’s style as a scrappy, tough guard who can use his speed and rim pressure to create more looks for his teammates.
With the addition of advantage-creators, Virginia’s offensive will improve as Coach Bennett is one of the best at maintaining top-notch defensive teams.
5. Clemson
It’s a career-changing year for Chase Hunter. He’ll have to continue what PJ Hall and Hunter Tyson left for him in the last two years. After Clemson’s run for the Elite Eight, the Tigers addressed their frontcourt need with Cincinnati’s Viktor Lakhin, while Ian Schieffelin is another name who’ll see his usage and role improve.
To take away pressure from Hunter, Jaeden Zackery has to step up for Coach Brownell who’s entering his fifteenth season in South Carolina. One of this team’s X factors is incoming freshman Dallas Thomas, who has been one of the conference’s more underrated recruits this past summer.
6. Pittsburgh
After losing key upperclassmen in Blake Hinson and Federiko Federiko, the Panthers also saw their freshman sensation banking on his stellar performance by becoming a lottery pick in the draft. However, it’s up to the next line of studs for Pittsburgh. Jaland Lowe has a sophomore leap waiting for him as the team’s next de facto leader.
On top of that, Coach Capel did well by securing experience with Damian Dunn coming over from Houston. He also brought in Brandin Cummings, one of the higher-ranked inner-state prospects in the 2024 class. This team’s frontcourt depth is what might eventually haunt them, as Federiko’s toughness around the basket will be tough to replace with Papa Kante, another incoming freshman who will be more of a defensive anchor, while the Diaz Graham brothers continue their role as floor-stretching bigs.
7. NC State
After last year’s insane winning streak in March, NC State played themselves to the Final Four. They brought back Michael O’Connell from that team, while also securing key role players in Ben Middlebrooks and Jayden Taylor. The Wolfpack will try to maintain their winning status by giving Dontrez Styles and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield bigger roles early on.
But they lack that offensive scoring punch with DJ Horne leaving the program. Diarra and Burns will give Coach Keatts other problems in the frontcourt to deal with. The X factor for NC State is incoming freshman Paul McNeil who will add size and toughness. With no clear number one guy, we might see another freshman breakout that will result in NC State keeping its tournament bid alive throughout the season.
8. Miami
After their Final Four bid in 2023, Miami had a good year before collapsing with a ten-game losing streak. But they are ready to come back strong by maintaining Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland, two program cornerstones. On top of that, incoming freshman Jalil Bethea will look to secure a role for himself early on in the season.
The Hurricanes got better. But losing Norchad Omier is a tough pill to swallow. Replacing him with Lynn Kidd should be considered addition by subtraction, rather than making Miami a better team compared to last year. The lack of depth in the frontcourt will put more pressure on Coach Larrañaga’s guards to carry the team, which is likely but to a certain degree.
9. Notre Dame
Coach Shrewsberry has had a good first year. The Fighting Irish saw their freshman stud Carey Booth leave but replaced their frontcourt minutes with Nikita Konstantynovskyi who was successful at the mid-major level.
The team’s most vital part in Markus Barton is undersized compared to his conference peers at six feet. That forced Notre Dame to surround him with size, which they successfully did. Matt Allocco and Braeden Shrewsberry are both expected to have good seasons for them.
Consistency is essential in the era where the transfer portal is king, and Notre Dame will be a consistent team this year in the ACC.
10. Louisville
The Cardinals have had five conference wins in the last two seasons. To give Coach Kelsey a clean slate, they decided to return zero minutes from last year’s team. And that’s the right way to rebuild an all-time great program that’s suffering for years now.
However, their aggressive NIL spending won’t warrant them a good position in an ACC conference that has significantly gotten better. Terrence Edwards, Jr. will be this team’s most important player. The Sun Belt Player of the Year will get the needed support from Chucky Hepburn, Koren Johnson, J’Vonne Hadley, and Kasean Pryor. All solid starters for Louisville, who have enough depth in their roster, but lack the true star to battle for a tournament ticket.
Regardless, Louisville will be one of the more entertaining teams to watch and one of my contenders for the NIT title this upcoming season.
11. Florida State
The Seminoles’ football program isn’t having the year it should have. That puts more pressure on their basketball program to succeed. While bringing in one of the best JUCO big men of the last few years in Malique Ewin, this team lacks the true depth to compete for a tournament ticket. They return Jamir Watkins, who’s an All-ACC level player.
But outside of Ewin and Watkins, Florida State will have to rely on Chandler Jackson and incoming freshman Daquan Davis to keep the offensive production going. The program is mostly known for embracing tough basketball, and toughness will get them key wins, but it won’t be enough to be a relevant team in the conference, with a lack of depth being the main reason.
12. SMU
Welcome to the ACC! Coach Enfield’s first year with the Mustangs in a power-five conference. Losing Zhuric Phelps hurts, but the incoming big man Samet Yiğitoğlu is a pro who will be one of the conference’s best big men right out of the gates. Their frontcourt depth becomes more impressive with the uber-athletic Yohan Traore.
However, the lack of guard talent is what will hurt SMU to be a top-10 team in the conference. Kevin Miller and Chuck Harris will carry the offensive scoring load, with Tibet Görener taking on a bigger role after welcoming his countryman in Yiğitoğlu. In today’s college basketball, guard play is what all winning teams have in common. But it’s clear that SMU aims to be a relevant program in the next few years, and this year will be their introduction.
13. California
Never doubt Coach Madsen. He doesn’t need a great team on paper to show great things on a basketball floor. By adding Andrej Stojaković, the ball-handling, self-creating scoring wing California keeps adding is yet again found. Rytis Petraitis had two fantastic years at the Air Force, while Mady Sissoko and BJ Omot gave California two good starters.
This is a good team on paper. However, the first season in a new conference is always tough. Especially when the majority of opponents are located on the other side of the nation. We’ll see a competitive Golden Bears team regardless, as we’re used to seeing with Coach Madsen.
14. Georgia Tech
Losing three key pieces in Tafara Gapare (Maryland), Miles Kelly (Auburn), and Dallan Coleman (UCF) hurts. Especially since the Yellow Jackets didn’t add the same caliber of players via the portal, with Javian McCollum and Ryan Mutombo being decent pieces.
That forces Coach Stoudamire to rely more on his incoming freshman class of Jaeden Mustaf and Darrion Sutton. Doryan Onwuchekwa will be a good backup for Baye Ndongo, who’s set for a sophomore leap after testing the NBA Draft waters this summer. We’ll see an entertaining team, but an underclassmen-heavy team is likely to struggle in today’s experienced college basketball setting.
15. Syracuse
Coach Autry enters his second season. The Orange brings in a well-regarded Eddie Lampkin, Jr. while maintaining JJ Starling’s scoring. We’ll likely see Donavan Freeman be an impactful, All-Conference freshman. But at the end of the day, this team lacks the depth and quality to be a meaningful contender in the conference.
Chris Bell and Jaquan Carlos will be the other two productive starters. But outside of a comeback season for Chance Westry, Syracuse will likely face another disappointing year.
16. Virginia Tech
At times, a program hits the reset button. And that’s what happened with Virginia Tech. Hunter Cattoor graduates, and Coach Young loses the rest of his starters as well. This will be a year to invest in the core of the next few seasons. Hysier Miller will be a key player for the Hokies, while Tobi Lawal and Jaden Schutt are two other well-respected starters.
The first-year forward Ryan Jones, Jr. should find enough minutes to be in contention for the All-Conference Freshman Team. Alongside him, Mylyjael Poteat will be one of my favorite players to watch on this team.
17. Stanford
Coach Smith saw Stojaković leave for a conference rival and will be happy with his European duo of Maxime Raynaud and Derin Saran. They will carry them in the team’s debut year in the ACC.
However, with Chisom Okpara and Oziyah Sellers, the team has enough individual quality to carve out some conference wins during the year. Despite a top-12-worthy starting five, the lack of true depth will hurt the team’s chances
18. Boston College
After losing Quinten Post to the NBA, Coach Grant hasn’t added a significant transfer to replace his minutes. Adding Venning from St. Bonaventure gives them a new double-digit scorer. With redshirt freshman Jayden Hastings coming back at the right time, his minutes will increase throughout the season. We won’t see competitive basketball, as BC will be one of the lowest-ranked power-five schools in the country.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 SEC Basketball Preview:
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