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Can Duke send Coach K Out on High Note?

Blue Devils Among Four ACC teams to Crack Preseason AP Top 25 poll

The Atlantic Coast Conference is usually among the nation’s best basketball conferences and this season should be no different. Perennial powers Duke, North Carolina and Virginia as well as upstart Florida State will be leading the way in what could be a wild race.

How Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season plays out could rest on the impact provided by one of the nation’s best recruiting classes.

atlantic coast conference basketball
JAMIE SQUIRE / Getty Images via AFP

Duke Blue Devils

  • Conference Odds: +200
  • National Title Odds: +1400

There are some question marks with the Duke Blue Devils in legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season.

A talented freshman class will be asked to contribute immediately. Paolo Banchero was the overwhelming pick as the preseason ACC Rookie of the Year. Al Griffin, Trevor Keels and Jaylen Blakes were also highly touted recruits. They combined for 48 points in the Blue Devils’ lone exhibition game.

Marquette transfer Theo John will team with returnees Wendell Moore Jr., Jeremy Roach, Mark Williams and Joey Baker. Moore, Roach and Williams each started at least 15 games during the Blue Devils’ 13-11 season. Bates Jones, a graduate transfer from Davidson, could also figure into the rotation.

It shouldn’t take long to figure out how good Duke. The Blue Devils open on Tuesday night against Kentucky. It will be interesting how the scores and odds are impacted by the result of that game.

Florida State Seminoles

  • Conference Odds: +375
  • National Title Odds: +2800

It is interesting that the Florida State Seminoles are given the best college basketball odds of challenging Duke, which was the overwhelming pick to win the ACC title as well as being the top team from the ACC in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Florida State will look much different from last season’s 18-7 squad. Not only is Scottie Barnes one of the top-scoring rookies in the NBA, but he is one of three double-digit scorers that Florida State lost. Anthony Polite is the top returning scorer, averaging 10.1 points per game. Polite, Malik Osborne, RayQuan Evans and Wyatt Wilkes combined to start 47 games a season ago.

The Seminoles did add two of the top transfers in the conference. Caleb Mills led Houston in scoring as a freshman, averaging 13.2 points, and will provide a three-point threat. Cam’Ron Fletcher comes into Florida State after playing sparingly as a freshman at Kentucky. Freshman Matthew Cleveland is expected to make an immediate impact.

Evans was just 9 of 25 from three-point range a season ago but he was 6 of 8 from long distance in two exhibition games.

North Carolina Tar Heels

  • Conference Odds: +450
  • National Title Odds: +2800

Junior Armando Bacot returns after averaging 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds. Caleb Lowe, the team leader with 104 assists, will be running the show once again. RJ Davis and Kerwin Walton should benefit after seeing plenty of action as freshmen.

Transfers Dawson Garcia and Brady Manek were double-digit scorers at Marquette and Oklahoma. Garcia caught the attention of the Tar Heels with a 24-point game on North Carolina last season and he dropped 28 on Villanova as well. The 6-foot-9 Manek was a four-year starter who was one of the top three-point shooters in Oklahoma history.

Virginia Cavaliers

  • Conference Odds: +600
  • National Title Odds: +4000

The Virginia Cavaliers lost three double-digit scorers. Between graduation, Trey Murphy leaving for the NBA and a couple transfers, the roster has needed to be reconstructed a bit.

Kihei Clark is back to run the offense again. Clark was third in ACC in assists (4.5) last season and was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list. Reece Beekman started in 20 games and averaged 4.7 points, a number that figures to improve.

He was second on the team in assists. The Cavaliers added former East Carolina forward Jayden Gardner and guard Armaan Franklin out of Indiana as transfers. They were both double-digit scorers at their former schools and they figure to have plenty of offensive responsibility at Virginia.

Virginia Tech Hokies

  • Conference Odds: +1000
  • National Title Odds: +4000

Keve Aluma is one of the ACC’s best players and with Justin Matts also returning, rebounding should not be an issue. Nahiem Alleyne will provide perimeter offense after shooting 41 percent from three-point range and leading the team with 42 three-pointers.

Storm Murphy should provide some offense after averaging 17.8 points per game during the 2020-21 season at Wofford. His addition should help a team that already had proven options from the perimeter.

Louisville Cardinals

  • Conference Odds: +1000
  • National Title Odds: +3000

It won’t be easy to replace the nearly 30 points per game lost when Carlik Jones and David Johnson headed to the pros. A healthy Malik Williams would help. Williams was limited to a total of 29 minutes in the two preseason games, which makes sense considering he was limited to three games a season ago.

How well and how much he plays could impact how the Las Vegas odds deal with the Cardinals moving forward.

Jae’Lyn Withers, Samuell Williamson and Dre Davis ranked third, fourth and fifth on the 2019-20 Louisville team in points scored and minutes played.

Louisville coach Chris Mack went the transfer route with the additions of Matt Cross from Miami, Sydney Curry from John A. Logan College, Mason Faulkner from Western Carolina, Noah Locke from Florida, Jarrod West from Marshall and El Ellis from Tallassee Community College.

It might take some time for chemistry to form but there is enough talent for Louisville to make a run at a top-four finish in the conference.

Syracuse Orange

  • Conference Odds: +2000
  • National Title Odds: +4000

The Syracuse Orange will lead the ACC in Boeheims. Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim will have two of his sons in key roles. Buddy Boeheim was a first-team preseason All-ACC pick after leading the Orange in scoring, averaging a shade under 18 points a season ago. His brother Jimmy was one of the top scorers in the Ivy League when he played at Cornell.

Syracuse lost much of the supporting cast from an 18-10 team, although Joseph Girard did contribute 9.8 points per game. Cole Swider and Symir Torrence join the program after being role players at Villanova and Marquette. Freshman Benny Williams played 25 minutes in the preseason game against Le Moyne and figures to be a key part of the rotation.

Clemson Tigers

  • Conference Odds: +5000
  • National Title Odds: +10000

The Clemson Tigers will miss Aamir Simms, who was their leading scorer and rebounder, but return five of the 10 players who started games during the 2020-21 season. Al-Amir Dawes, Nick Honor and Hunter Tyson are among the top returnees off a 16-8 Clemson team that only lost once at home. PJ Hall led the team in scoring in its lone exhibition game.

Transfers Nick Bohannon (16.5 points, 8.2 rebounds) and David Collins (12.5 points, 3.4 assists) come in from Youngstown State and South Florida respectively.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

  • Conference Odds: +5000
  • National Title Odds: +8000

Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher are proven scorers but they will need some help. Mississippi State transfer Deivon Smith will help in the playmaking department. Freshmen Deebo Coleman, Miles Kelly and Jalon combined for 19 points in Georgia Tech’s lone exhibition game.

Georgia Tech , coming off a 17-9 season, needs to rebound the ball much better than it did a season ago.

North Carolina State Wolfpack

  • Conference Odds: +5000
  • National Title Odds: N/A

Jericole Hellems is back after contributing 13 points per game and Cam Hayes had his moments as a freshman, but after that there are plenty of question marks.

Casey Morsell transferred in from Virginia while freshmen Terquavion Smith, Breon Pass and Ernest Ross could be asked to contribute from the opening game.

Miami Hurricanes

  • Conference Odds: +7500
  • National Title Odds: N/A

The Miami Hurricanes enjoy a luxury few of their fellow ACC teams have, returning their top three scorers from the 2020-21 season. Isaiah Wong averaged 17 points, Kameron McGusty can fill up the stat sheet on a nightly basis and Anthony Walker added 9.6 points per game.

They are joined by Jordan Miller, who led George Mason in scoring and rebounding last season and was one of the top offensive rebounders in the Atlantic 10, as well as Charlie Moore, who averaged 14 points and four assists at DePaul.

The Hurricanes aren’t receiving as much buzz as some of the other ACC squads, which is understandable after a 10-17 season, but they could be a sleeper team if Moore and Miller mesh quickly with the returnees.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

  • Conference Odds: +10000
  • National Title Odds: N/A

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will be counting on a trio of transfers to contribute immediately.

Jake LaRavia joins the Demon Deacons from Indiana State, where he was a double-digit scorer, and looks ready to make an immediate impact.

Alondes Williams, who comes in from Oklahoma and had 15 points in the Sooners’ NCAA Tournament loss, tied LaRavia for team scoring honors in Wake Forest’s exhibition game. Freshman Carter Whitt displayed three-point range and Ole Miss transfer Khadim Sy also scored in double figures in that game.

Pittsburgh Panthers

  • Conference Odds: +12500
  • National Title Odds: N/A

The Pittsburgh Panthers already lost its top three scorers off a 10-12 team and then saw Nike Sibande suffer a season-ending knee injury.

Mouhamadou Gueye, who was the America East Defensive Player of the Year and one of the nation’s top shot blockers, had a double-double in the Panthers’ lone exhibition game. Femi Odukale looks to have a more significant role offensively after making just five starts last season while Ithiel Horton should also shoulder some of the offensive load.

Boston College Eagles

  • Conference Odds: +12500
  • National Title Odds: N/A

First-year coach Earl Grant has some work to do. DeMarr Langston, who scored in double figures four times as a freshman, and his older brother, Makai Ashton-Langford, lead the list of returnees.

Brevin Galloway, who played for Grant at College of Charleston, was averaging 15 points in an injury-shortened 2020-21 season. Quinten Post from Mississippi State and Drexel’s T.J. Bickerstaff are other incoming transfers.

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