GREENSBORO— The votes were turned in and a look at the predicted finish in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball for this season turned some heads.
Not because of who was picked to finish first. Duke receiving 69 of a possible 74 first-place votes was no surprise. The defending national champions are actually favorites to repeat.
The big surprise was that the North Carolina Tar Heels were picked to finish fourth in the regular season. UNC has finished in the top three every year since 1965.
“We’ll try to answer the bell,” shrugged second-year coach Matt Doherty, who lost Joe Forte and Brendan Haywood to the NBA and possibly Ron Curry and Julius Peppers to the NFL.
He does return Kris Lang and Jason Capel, who must mesh with several talented freshmen.
“Our guys enjoy people questioning our team,” said Doherty, who added his team will be more focused because of it.
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Operation ACCBasketball was held Sunday as all nine coaches met the media. And while the verdict is still out on the Tar Heels, there was no question about their neighbors eight miles to the west.
Duke (35-4 last year) has won the last five ACCtitles and with Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy and Chris Duhon returning, nothing should change in the eyes of the coaches or media.
“It’s great for the ACC and great for Duke,” said Clemson coach Larry Shyatt. “And I think it will continue to be a great thing. When someone wants to get into a discussion to tell you how great their conference is, it’s a good feeling to know we have some of the people in this league year in and year out.”
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Maryland (25-11) picked up the other five first-place votes and 596 overall. It was easy to tell, however, that Gary Williams was getting a bit testy with all of the questions about the Blue Devils.
“We played them four times last year, lost three, but still made it to the Final Four,” he said. “Maryland has to remember what we did against Duke does not determine the success of our year.”
Mike Krzyzewski enjoys his team’s status but clearly does not feel he is heads above the competition.
“When you say dominating, that means you’re the only team that is excellent,” said Coach K. “But in the last few years, North Carolina has been to a Final Four. Maryland has been to a Final Four. There are other excellent teams in the ACC.”
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While most of the coaches lauded Duke’s dominance over the last five years, Virginia’s Pete Gillen is ready for a change. His Cavaliers were chosen third with 483 points.
“I don’t think it’s good for the league,” the jokester from Charlottesville said. “It takes away wins that teams could gobble up and get to the NCAAs.”
Wins weren’t a problem last year as six ACCteams headed for March Madness. But this season, who knows? There are several clubs that are very, very young.
And naive.
“I’m sure some of our younger guys will say, ‘I can take Jason Williams,’ ” laughed Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt. “That’s when Tony Akins says, ‘Wait a minute.’ ”
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Tech was chosen sixth with 254points, trailing UNC (421) and Wake Forest(407).
The Deacons return a good nucleus of Darius Songaila, Craig Dawson, Broderick Hicks, Josh Howard and Ervin Murray, who will finish their careers under first-year coach Skip Prosser, formerly of Xavier.
North Carolina State’s embattled coach Herb Sendek has no inside game to speak of, which was the main reason the Wolfpack was picked seventh (242), well ahead of the usual cellar-dwellers Florida State (140) and Clemson (126).
But Sendek says a low preseason ranking in the ACC really isn’t that bad.
“If you’re picked in the middle of our league, you could be the No. 15 team in the country,” he said.
But it was clear Sunday that there is only one No. 1.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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