Going to give a quick rundown of the ACC from top to bottom. Recruits ratings based on ESPN recruit overall grades. Let me know your thoughts folks: (These are not their rankings I think they will have, teams are in no particular order)
1. North Carolina
Additions: Henson (98) Strickland (95) McDonald (95) Wear Twins (Both 94)
Losses: Ginyard, Frasor, Green, Tanner, Wooten, Moody, Copeland, Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington
Prediction: It seems like the whole UNC team has left and there is a completely new team coming in. UNC is losing a total of 74% of their offense from last year. Who will be the big names this year? Deon Thompson, Ed Davis (one of the best bigs in the country in my opinion) and count on Tyler Zeller having a good year and stretching defenses out. I think UNC is going to be better than most suspect this year. They finish 2nd in the ACC to Duke but make a deeper tournament run.
2. Duke:
Additions: Mason Plumlee(98), Ryan Kelly(97)
Losses: Greg Paulus, David McClure, Gerald Henderson
Prediction: Duke statistically speaking lost very little compared to the majority of ACC schools. The only school's to retain more offense in the conference are Virginia and Maryland. Duke is banking on Plumlee and Kelly to come in and do immediate damage in the conference. Couple with Jon Scheyer (most improved player in the conference last year in my opinion) and Kyle Singler who should be the favorite for ACC player of the year Duke could be a dangerous team. They will definitely need tenacity on the boards from Plumlee and Kelly, as it has clearly been a weakness the past 3-4 years. Duke goes 14-2 in the ACC and coasts to a 2 seed in the tournament.
3. Virginia Tech
Losses: A.D. Vassallo, Cheick Diakite
Additions: Green 88, Raines 88, Atkins 87, Boggs 87
Prediction: Good coach in Seth Greenberg. Delaney and Allen both returning. Hopefully Allen is a more mature player as he could be a complete stud but lacks a brain so far. I expect Tech to squeak into the NCAA tournament this year at somewhere between an 8-10 seed.
4. Miami
Losses: Graham, Hurdle, Asbury, McClinton,
Additions: Scott 93, Adams 91, Kirk 91, Allen 85
Prediction: Huge gain by Miami as Dwayne Collins withdrew his name from the NBA draft. Obviously it will be tough for Miami to rebound with the loss of Jack the Ripper but they have a solid recruiting class and more good gaurds coming in. This team will struggle without Jack, bubble NCAA team on the outside looking in.
5. Virginia (my boys)
Losses: Soroye, Diane (siyanara)
Additions: Spurlock 91, Evans 87
Prediction: The Hoos' destiny lies within the hands of Sylven Landesberg who was an absolute stud in his freshmen campaign coupled with the addition of Tristan Spurlock who could be just as good. Oh yeah, they finally have a competent point guard in Jontel Evans. Another possible ACC bubble team here. Look for them to finish around .500 in the ACC... they will need a marquee non conference win. Should be interesting to see how Tony Bennett manages with this squad.
6. Georgia Tech
Additions: Favors 98, Udofia 93, Holsey 92, Miller 91, Rice Jr 89, Oliver 87
Losses: Clinch, Dieng, Cage, Aminu
Prediction: Huge for GTech that Gani Lawal stayed, and once again GTech was rated the best recruiting class in the entire country. Who knows how Paul Hewitt does it. This team is going to be very very intersting. They could either be one of the top teams in the ACC or disappoint everyone. I would guess they could finish anywhere from third in the ACC to near dead last. In the end I think they are tournament bound as Lawal is a beast and Favors should be a big time player.
7. Boston College
Losses: Rice
Additions: None
Prediction: Only the loss of one player in Tyrese Rice. I make it to a lot of BC games as my buddy and rising star Joe Trapani plays there. I liked a lot of what I saw from Reggie Jackson and Biko Paris last year to replace the void. Also Rakim Sanders on the verge of becoming a great player. Another ACC bubble watch team right here. Trapani/Sanders/Jackson will all have to pull their load in the scoring department.
(Running out of time here have to half ass the last few)
8. Clemson
Losses: Oglesby, Rivers, Sykes, Yanutola
Additions: Jennings, Booker, Hill
Prediction: Huge in that Booker decided to come back and play another year with his brother who is supposively the better of the two. A lot of seniority and depth lost in rivers, sykes, and sharp shooter oglesby. They make the tournament somewhere between a 7-10 seed.
9. Florida State
Losses: Hoff, Douglas, Echefu
Gains: Snaer, Shannon
Prediction: NCAA tournament bound despite losing Toney Douglas. Solomon Alabi remember the name as he is a big time game changer... still very raw offensively but he is going to be a great player.
10. Maryland
Losses: Dupree, Neal
Gains: Padgett, Williams
Prediction: Short and sweet... Greivis is back! They are tournament bound, and Greivis makes a run at first team all american. I think statistically his numbers will be insane. They could make a sweet-16 run and they are somewhat under the radar here.
11. NC State
Lost: Fells, Harris, McCauley, Costner, Ferguson
Gains: Brown, Howell, Painter, Wood, Vandenberg, David
Prediction: Actually a great recuiting class ranked 11th overall in the country. This team lost virtually all of their upperclassmen and will be NIT bound this year.
12. Wake Forest
Lost: Johnson, Teague
Gain: Stewart, Harris
Prediction: Similar to Maryland the big news was the big time player returns. Al-Farouq Aminu who could have been a lottery pick returns for his sophomore campaign. He will be a beast in the ACC this year and one of the best fowards in the country. Losing their floor general Teague hurts, and a lot of inexperience surrounds this team. They do have McFarland back, and a few rising players but it will be a tough year. Bubble team... most likely NIT bound.
We will see how the ACC pans out this year, there are a lot of middle grade teams and again there are no weak teams in the conference. If they miss the NCAA tournament the majority of them are at least NIT bound. It shall be a fun season and I can't wait for it. Until then... NCAA football