Cavaliers picked fourth in ACC Preseason Poll

Clark selected to Second Team

Courtesy UVA and ACC Media Relations

Virginia was selected fourth by a vote of the media in the ACC Men’s Basketball 2021-22 Preseason Poll, announced Tuesday. Duke is the preseason favorite, as the Blue Devils earned the distinction for the seventh time in the last nine seasons and were followed in the poll by Florida State, North Carolina, UVA and Virginia Tech.

ACC preseason voters selected Louisville sixth, followed by Syracuse, Notre Dame, NC State and Georgia Tech. Clemson was picked 11th, while Miami, Wake Forest, Pitt and Boston College rounded out the voting.

The Cavaliers were selected first in the ACC Operation Basketball 2020-21 Preseason Poll and finished first (13-4) in the standings. The Cavaliers have finished at or higher than their predicted finish in 12 of the last 13 seasons.

Duke received 47 of the 81 first-place votes and finished with 1,132 points. Florida State, which earned its highest preseason status in its ACC tenure, racked up 14 first-place votes and 1,034 total points. North Carolina tallied five first-place votes and 1,001 points, while Virginia recorded nine first-place votes and 949 points. Virginia Tech earned five first-place votes, while Louisville earned the other first-place vote.

Duke freshman power forward Paolo Banchero earned Preseason ACC Player and Freshman of the Year honors. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound native of Seattle, Washington, was a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 3 overall player in ESPN 100’s rankings for the class of 2021. He was ranked No. 1 in the state of Washington, No. 1 at his position in the ESPN 100 and was named the Washington Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior. Banchero averaged 22.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game his junior season at O’Dea High School.

Banchero finished with 28 votes for Preseason ACC Player of the Year – 12 more than Virginia Tech’s Keve Aluma. Banchero also earned 64 of the 81 votes for Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year.

Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim earned 68 votes to lead all vote getters on the Preseason All-ACC Team. Boeheim was joined on the first team by Aluma, Banchero, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot and Miami’s Isaiah Wong.

UVA point guard Kihei Clark was joined on the preseason All-ACC second team by Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Prentiss Hubb (Notre Dame), Mark Williams (Duke), Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke), Malik Williams (Louisville) and Caleb Love (North Carolina).

Virginia opens the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 9 vs. Navy. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m.

ACC Men’s Basketball Tipoff 2021-22 Preseason Poll
School, Points

1. Duke (47), 1132
2. Florida State (14), 1034
3. North Carolina (5), 1001
4. Virginia (9), 949
5. Virginia Tech (5), 857
6. Louisville (1), 791
7. Syracuse, 781
8. Notre Dame, 599
9. NC State, 555
10. Georgia Tech, 524
11. Clemson, 430
12. Miami, 428
13. Wake Forest, 274
14. Pitt, 253
15. Boston College, 112

First-place votes in parentheses; 81 total voters

Preseason All-ACC

First Team

Name, School, Votes

Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 68

Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 52

Paolo Banchero, Duke, 49

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 46

Isaiah Wong, Miami, 37

Second Team

Name, School, Votes

Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech, 25

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 23

Prentiss Hubb, Notre Dame, 17

Mark Williams, Duke, 12

Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 9

Malik Williams, Louisville, 9

Caleb Love, North Carolina, 9

Preseason Player of the Year

Name, School, Votes

Paolo Banchero, Duke 28

Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 16

Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 13

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 12

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 5

Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 3

Caleb Love, North Carolina, 2

Mark Williams, Duke, 2

Preseason Freshman of the Year

Name, School, Votes

Paolo Banchero, Duke 64

Trevor Keels, Duke, 5

Terquavion Smith, NC State, 3

Dontrez Styles, North Carolina, 3

Igor Miličić Jr., Virginia, 3

Wooga Poplar, Miami, 1

Benny Williams, Syracuse, 1

Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest, 1