Over at Duke Basketball Report, Al Featherston has an article up looking at the ACC next season. Here are a few snippets on teams that he looks at closely. Make sure to read the full article.
UNC
No team in the ACC – and maybe no team in all of college basketball – has a wider range of possibilities at this moment than the Tar Heels.
Syracuse
The best of the [new] trio is certainly Syracuse, but how much of the 2013 Final Four team will be around to play in the ACC next year?
Notre Dame
Mike Brey loses two starters to graduation – center Jack Cooley and big guard Scott Martin. The key will be whether junior forward Jerian Grant, the team’s top player, elects to return for his senior season. The Irish also lose a number of quality backup big men, including 6-10 Garrick Sherman and 6-10 Tom Knight.
Pittsburgh
Pitt also appears to have lost ground after finishing 24-9 last season. Guard Tray Woodall, who led the Panthers in scoring and assists in each of the last two seasons, graduates. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except that 7-foot freshman Steve Adams, who first announced that he was returning for his sophomore season, changed his mind and opted for the draft. Pitt also loses Dante Taylor, the team’s top frontcourt sub, and swingman Trey Ziegler.
Maryland
It’s too bad the Terps are headed to the Big Ten after next season because Mark Turgeon has this program on the right track.
Virginia
Still, the biggest problem for the Cavs next season is to prove that they can play as smart and as tough on the road as they do at home. If they do that, Bennett will have a contender.
Miami
If anything is clear, it’s that Miami missed its window of opportunity.
NC State
Like Miami, the Pack loses four starters – actually four and a half, since freshman Rodney Purvis started more than half the team’s games. A lot of talent is walking out the door – senior big man Richard Howell was the team’s best player last season, just ahead of junior Lorenzo Brown, who is bolting for the NBA. Scott Wood had limitations, but was the ACC’s best 3-point shooter. C.J. Leslie was a major talent, even if his lack of focus and maturity had to drive Mark Gottfried to distraction.
Georgia Tech
Brian Gregory is putting together a lineup that is almost good enough to designate as an ACC contender – he just needs to find one missing piece.
Boston College
The potential of Donahue’s rising sophomore backcourt of Olivier Hanlan (the ACC rookie of the year) and Joe Rahon was on display at the ACC Tournament, especially in Hanlan’s 41-point explosion against Georgia Tech. And rising junior Ryan Anderson is an all-league talent at forward.
FSU
There is one possible salvation for Leonard Hamilton’s team – if Andrew Wiggins, the son of two FSU grads, decides to follow his parents to Tallahassee, the ‘Noles would suddenly look a lot more impressive.
Check out the full article, being a Duke site he focuses on the other ACC schools and leaves a few smaller comments on the other teams at the end of the article.
