ACC Basketball: 15 Most Important Players in the Conference

The ACC opens conference play this weekend, and to no one’s surprise, North Carolina and Duke find themselves the co-favorites for the league title yet again.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of important questions yet to be answered about how this league is going to shake out.

Perennial NCAA bubble team Virginia Tech looks to be headed for another tense Selection Sunday after an 11-3 start. One of the keys to the team’s success has been standout freshman Dorian Finney-Smith, who must keep up his team-leading rebounding efforts if the Hokies are to have a shot at an NCAA bid.

Herein, a closer look at Finney-Smith and the rest of the biggest impact players in the ACC this season.

15. Travis McKie, Wake Forest

Wake Forest doesn’t have the depth to contend this year, but they do have the top-end talent to play spoiler in the conference. Of the Demon Deacons’ two-man gang, the one who makes the bigger contribution to the team is forward Travis McKie.

The 6’7” sophomore is scoring 17.9 points a game and pulling down a team-high 5.9 boards a night. A monster game from McKie at the right time could result in a devastating loss for a team like Virginia or Maryland.

14. Lorenzo Brown, NC State

There are a lot of holes in the NC State lineup, but the Wolfpack boasts one of the conference’s best point guards in Lorenzo Brown. The sophomore is second in the conference to Kendall Marshall with 6.8 assists per game.

Brown’s leadership has every member of the Wolfpack starting lineup scoring over 12 points a game. Don’t be surprised to see a contending team or two face a serious scare in Raleigh this season.

13. Jontel Evans, Virginia

With Mike Scott and Joe Harris, scoring punch shouldn’t be a major issue for the No. 23 Cavaliers. So why are they just 217th in the nation with 66.6 points per game?

A major part of the problem is shaky point guard play, and that starts with junior Jontel Evans.

For Virginia to nail down third place in the conference (and a spot in the big dance), Evans must improve on his six points and team-leading 3.4 assists per game.

12. Mason Plumlee, Duke

As happens so often, Duke’s road to an ACC title goes straight through Chapel Hill. For the Blue Devils to win their vital head-to-head matchups with the Tar Heels, Mason Plumlee must hold his own in the frontcourt.

Neither Duke nor any other team in the ACC can match the talent of UNC’s Tyler Zeller and John Henson in the post, but Plumlee is the key to keeping that duo from controlling the game.

If he can play enough defense to make North Carolina work for its scoring, Plumlee can give Duke’s superlative three-point shooters a chance to carry the Blue Devils to the win.

11. Erick Green, Virginia Tech

With streaky Dorenzo Hudson in the backcourt, Virginia Tech needs a steadying presence to keep the offense running when Hudson struggles.

Junior PG Erick Green has stepped into that role.

Green leads the Hokies with 15.5 points and 3.2 assists a game this season. If Virginia Tech is going to make any noise in conference action, he’ll have to keep up his high level of play.

10. Dexter Strickland, North Carolina

Even the second-tier teams of the ACC boast some outstanding scorers in the backcourt, and that puts a premium on perimeter defense.

With PG Kendall Marshall suspect on that end of the floor, the burden for the Tar Heels will fall on Dexter Strickland.

The 6’3” junior has stayed in the starting lineup—despite scoring just 7.9 points a game—because of his ability to match up with the opposing team’s top scoring threat in the backcourt.

Look for him to shut down players like C.J. Harris of Wake Forest and Terrell Stoglin of Maryland in staving off upset bids.

9. Dorian Finney-Smith, Virginia Tech

After Austin Rivers, no ACC freshman has meant more to his team than Dorian Finney-Smith. The 6’8” forward is leading the Hokies with 8.2 rebounds a game on the season.

For Virginia Tech to earn an NCAA berth, Finney-Smith will have to stay among the conference’s top rebounders against athletic ACC frontcourts.

Considering his struggles against power-conference opponents so far—such as a three-point, six-rebound effort in a loss to Trevor Mbakwe-less Minnesota—that won’t be an easy task.

8. John Henson, North Carolina

With the No. 1 offense in college basketball, North Carolina rarely has to worry about losing a shootout. In a defensive contest, though, the Tar Heels will rely heavily on star forward John Henson and his 3.2 blocks per game.

Henson, far and away the ACC’s top defender (and probably the best in the country after Anthony Davis), must shut down opposing post scorers as well as protecting the paint from penetrating guards.

If he can keep up his improved scoring (15 points a game so far), so much the better for Roy Williams’ squad.

7. Michael Snaer, Florida State

Florida State is far from being as bad as its ugly 8-5 record, considering that four of those losses have come against top-25 teams and the fifth was last week’s triple-OT heartbreaker against Princeton.

For the Seminoles to get back on track in conference play, though, they’ll need leading scorer Michael Snaer to step up.

FSU’s defense has been strong, but they’ve struggled to put points on the board (witness Snaer’s four-point showing in a blowout loss at Florida).

If Snaer could be more consistent, he’d improve his 13 point-per-game average and make Florida State a very dangerous spoiler in the ACC.

6. Seth Curry, Duke

For a school that’s produced so many great point guards, Duke is surprisingly short on floor generals this year.

Seth Curry and Austin Rivers have both done their share of ball-handling, but the Blue Devils are recording a disappointing 13.8 assists per game as a team.

Duke will need leadership to avoid ACC upsets (especially at longtime nemesis Florida State), and junior Curry is the player who will have to provide it. Don’t expect this team to beat loaded North Carolina without a strong game from Curry at the point guard spot.

5. Terrell Stoglin, Maryland

One of the biggest question marks in the conference is whether Maryland, which has only just returned to full strength after injuries and suspensions, has enough talent to compete in coach Mark Turgeon’s first season.

If they can, the key to that effort will be the performance of surprising sophomore Terrell Stoglin.

Forced to carry the team in its early games without Alex Len and Pe'Shon Howard, Stoglin has posted an eye-popping 21.8 points a game after averaging just 11.4 last season.

Now that he has some support, Stoglin—if he can adapt and stop taking one out of every three Terrapin shots—has the explosiveness to lead a strong run in ACC play.

4. Reggie Johnson, Miami

The backcourt of Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott will make the Hurricanes a dangerous team, but the X-factor will be on the inside.

Mammoth center Reggie Johnson, who’s played just four games since returning from knee surgery, must control the paint for Miami.

The 6’10”, 284-lb Johnson has looked solid against some unimpressive frontcourts, averaging 10.8 points, 6.5 boards and 2.3 blocks per game.

He’ll need to play even better against much tougher competition for the Hurricanes to contend in the ACC.

3. Mike Scott, Virginia

Virginia’s unexpected run to the No. 23 ranking has had many contributors, but none bigger than Mike Scott. The 6’8” senior is leading the Cavaliers with 16 points and nine rebounds per game.

Scott doesn’t have quite enough help to be able to scare the Tobacco Road behemoths, but he can make sure the Cavaliers take care of business against everyone else.

If he does, they’ll still be in the top 25 when they go to their first NCAA tournament in five years.

2. Austin Rivers, Duke

College basketball’s most hyped freshman, Austin Rivers has looked ready for prime time in non-conference play. Even in the Blue Devils’ lone loss, a blowout at Ohio State, Rivers went for a game-high 22 points on solid 8-for-18 shooting from the floor.

As good as he’s been, though, conference play for a freshman is a different beast (especially when the showdowns with archrival UNC will also have a No. 1 seed on the line).

There’s no doubt Rivers will continue to be good, but whether he’ll be good enough to win an ACC title for the Blue Devils is another, much less secure question.

1. Harrison Barnes, North Carolina

Even after two early-season losses, North Carolina will enter ACC play as the favorite for the conference crown and a No. 1 seed. The most important player in making sure the Tar Heels capitalize on that potential will be star forward Harrison Barnes.

UNC’s leading scorer at 17 points a night, Barnes has done surprisingly little outside of the (often highlight-worthy) points he’s put on the scoreboard.

If he wants to lead North Carolina to the national title its talent demands—not to mention make himself the No. 1 overall pick in the draft—Barnes needs to improve on unremarkable numbers like 4.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game.