Duke Blue Devils favored in 2023 preseason predictions

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Duke basketball is the favorite to win the ACC championship, according to the league’s official preseason media poll.

The Blue Devils won 27 games in Jon Scheyer’s first season as head coach and claimed the ACC Tournament championship at Greensboro Coliseum. Duke returns four of five starters from that squad and starts the season at No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll.

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The Devils had 44 first-place votes in a poll of 51 media voters. Miami picked up five votes, followed by North Carolina (1) and Virginia (1).

Coming off their first Final Four appearance in program history, the Hurricanes start the season at No. 13 in the AP poll. The Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament and welcomed seven newcomers to a squad that is No. 19 in the poll.

NC State won 23 games last season and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Wolfpack added seven transfers to team up with top returners DJ Burns Jr. and Casey Morsell.

Here’s a look at the preseason awards and media poll.

Duke basketball’s Kyle Filipowski, UNC basketball’s Elliot Cadeau lead All-ACC preseason awards

Dubbed “two hip Flip” because of his offseason hip surgery, Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski enters the season healthy and ready to build off a rookie season that saw him become MVP of the ACC Tournament.

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Filipowski, the favorite to win ACC Player of the Year this season, picked up 35 of 51 votes. He averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds. He started all 36 games last season and led Division I freshmen with 16 double-double performances.

UNC guard Elliot Cadeau was picked to be the ACC Rookie of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/acc-basketball-duke-blue-devils-210554778.html

Author : The Fayetteville Observer

Publish date : 2023-10-26 21:05:54

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