2010-11 ACC Basketball Preview: Can Anyone Stop a Duke Repeat?

Will Duke repeat as ACC and National Champions? Will North Carolina rebound from one of its worst seasons in school history? What will the coaching changes at Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest mean?

Stay tuned.

Here’s how I see the teams finishing this season.

1. Duke

The reigning ACC and National Champs will be loaded again this year despite losing Jon Scheyer and Brian Zoubek. The Blue Devils do return forward Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and the Plumlee brothers—Mason and Miles.

Supposedly, Duke will try to speed up the pace of its attack this year with smaller skilled players, and they’ll have one of the best freshman point guards in Kyrie Irving.

Oh, by the way, Seth Curry joins the team as well. Yes, he’s the younger brother of Stephen Curry. Duke should once again be good enough to win the ACC and take the  national title.

2. Virginia Tech

The Hokies return all key starters from a team that went 25-9 (10-6 in the ACC) a year ago, but got left out of the NCAA tournament, so experience will not be an issue. Superb rebounder Jeff Allen and ACC assist leader Malcolm Delaney come back as seniors. Delaney was the ACC’s scoring leader a year ago.

Forward J.T. Thompson will be joined by Florida transfer Allan Chaney. Virginia Tech needs them, as they have upgraded their schedule in hopes of making it to the NCAA tournament this time after getting snubbed once again despite having a 25-9 record.

3. North Carolina

The Tar Heels went to the NIT last year instead of the Big Dance, but the rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The frontcourt has been severely depleted with losses of Deon Thompson and Ed Davis. However, all is not lost, as UNC still has Tyler Zeller and John Henson. Alabama transfer Justin Knox could bolster this unit as well.

In the backcourt, Larry Drew II returns for his junior season—he was the ACC’s assist leader a season ago. Freshman Reggie Bullock is expected to help the Tar Heels with his sharp shooting. UNC should return to the NCAA tournament.

4. NC State

Sidney Lowe enters his fifth season in Raleigh, and he’s expected to produce this time. His teams have failed to make the NCAA tournament in all of the previous four years. This year’s team is expected to be his best at NC State.

Lowe has three starters—Javier Gonzalez, Scott Wood and Tracy Smith coming back, plus three outstanding recruits—McDonald’s All-American Lorenzo Brown, Ryan Harrow and C.J. Leslie who could find some significant playing time that might help the Wolfpack cause. This team will enjoy its first NCAA tournament under Lowe.

5. Clemson

Coach Brad Brownell now roams the sideline, and he will inherit a team that ran a pressing style.

He must find someone to replace forward Trevor Booker for some inside game. His younger brother, Devin Booker, did shoot better than Trevor.

The Tigers are looking to improve on their 34.2 percent three-point shooting to take some of the pressure off the inside game.

Brownell’s first Clemson signee, guard Cory Stanton, could bolster an already experienced backcourt with Tanner Smith, Demontez Stitt and Andre Young—the fourth best three-point shooter in the ACC. They must also improve on the FT shooting if they want to win the close games.

The Tigers should once again make it to the NCAA tournament and can expect to get past the first round this time.

6. Florida State

The losses of center Solomon Alabi and forward Ryan Reid could be big, but don’t think FSU is done. They’ve had a solid recruiting class in addition to returning starting forward Chris Singleton and Deividas Dulkys, who shoots 40 percent from three-point land.

The Seminoles do need to improve their three-point shooting and their FT shooting to become a threat. Seminoles fans can rightfully expect this team to be dancing in March.

7. Maryland

Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes are gone. Sophomore forward Jordan Williams will be expected to fill some of the void after finishing second in the ACC Rookie of the Year voting and being the top rebounder in the conference.

In the backcourt, Adrian Bowie, Sean Mosle and Cliff Tucker are a formidable bunch that can score and defend.

It will take a lot of the new players to step up for Maryland to match last year’s top scoring offense in the conference. It looks this team might be NIT-bound.

8. Miami (FL)

The young Hurricanes from last year are now grown up, or at least that’s what Frank Haith hopes.

A lot of freshmen and sophomore played last year, including guard Durand Scott. He will be expected to take more of the leadership role. Adrian Thomas will be expected to help the offense, especially after shooting 42.1 percent from the three-point line.

Part of the Hurricanes’ woes last year were on the free throw line, and they must learn to take care of the ball. The Cavaliers should improve from a year ago, but don’t expect this team to be in the big dance.

9. Boston College

Steve Donahue takes the helm as head coach, and he will inherit a team with four returning starters. The potential problem is that those four starters come back from a team that had a 15-16 record (6-10 in the ACC). The Eagles were ninth in the ACC in scoring.

Joe Trapani returns as the best three-point and free throw shooter on the team. Biko Paris and Corey Raji return to help Trapani. Freshman guard Gabriel Moton comes in as an excellent shooter and ball-handler.

10. Virginia

Tony Bennett enters his second year at Virginia after a 15-16 season. Don’t expect much of an improvement , and really don’t expect this team to have a good start like it did last year (they started 14-6).

Help could come from junior guard Sammy Zeglinski, as he was one of the top three-point shooters a year ago. If he can get the outside shooting to fall, then that might help senior forward Mike Scott. Scott averaged 7.2 rebounds per game, and that should give Virginia more opportunities to score.

K.T. Harrell might also be able to help the Cavaliers, as he comes in as a member of one of the most highly regarded recruiting classes in the ACC.

11. Wake Forest

Jeff Bzdelik replaces Dino Gaudio in what some people consider a surprising move after a 20-11 season, and Bzdelik will inherit a team with new faces.

Sophomore guard C.J. Harris is the only returning starter. Bzdelik hopes that the deep but unheralded inside presence can prevent this team from having an expected woeful season in 2010-11.

6’11” Tony Woods, 7-foot Ty Walker and 6’11” Carson Desrosiers are expected to give Wake Forest a fighting chance in the ACC.

12. Georgia Tech

Paul Hewitt is expected to have a guard-oriented offense as the Yellow Jackets are deep in guard play, as Mfon Udofia, Iman Shumpert and Maurice Miller return. That’s good news for Georgia Tech, as the frontcourt is expected to struggle a bit after losing Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal to the NBA.

The Yellow Jackets will need the guards to help improve on the 16.4 turnovers per game, and the FT shooting was a woeful 65.7 percent.

TigerStripe is a Jabberhead, SJ contributing author and admin at College Endzone.

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