Hoops Haven

Author: Allen Moll (141 Articles)

Allen Moll is the Site Administrator and head writer for Hoops Haven. He has published thousands of articles on various sites including the Hoopdoctors, Bleacher Report, Upper Deck Blog, and Fox Sports.

Even though most experts predict a down year in ‘09-’10, I argue that the Atlantic Coast Conference will have one of it’s strongest ever with as many as 8-9 teams up for NCAA bids. For the past decade, or 2 decades for that matter, the ACC Champion usually comes from Tobacco Road. This season will be no different since Duke and UNC share the conference’s preseason #1 ranking.

Fresh off of a National Championship and losing 4 players to the NBA, UNC will be in rebuilding mode,……….scratch that, the Tarheels don’t rebuild, they reload. Led by lottery bound Ed Davis and Deon Thompson in the frontcourt, the Heels could still be a Top 10 team come March. Reinforcements arrive in the form of a Top 5 recruiting class highlighted by 6-10 John Henson, the 6-10 Wear twins, along with two impressive backcourt players in Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald, who will learn behind Marcus Ginyard and Larry Drew in the backcourt. Most Duke teams have historically been guard heavy, but this year’s version has one of the best frontcourts in the conference. Tyler Zeller, Zoubek, and Miles Plumlee will be joined by Miles’ little brother Mason Plumlee(update: injured) and Ryan Kelly in the freshman class frontcourt. They get backcourt help from freshman early entry Andre Dawkins for help in the backcourt to play alongside Nolan Smith and John Scheyer. Wooden Award Candidate Kyle Singler returns and should lead the team in scoring as the Blue Devils should once again be among the Madness of March.

Maryland returns one of the most exciting players in the country in Greivis Vasquez, who may be the conferences best player. Adrian Bowie is a second scorer and Sean Mosely, huge afro and all, is an excellent defender. Georgia Tech, behind a mixture of experience and youth, could be a force once their Top 5 recruiting class, led by PF Derick Favors, gets accustomed to NCAA style of play. Clemson has one of the conference’s best players in Trevor Booker, as well as one of the nation’s better recruiting classes, but always seem to fade late in the year. Wake Forest, who are led by double double machine Al-Farouq Aminu and Ishmael Smith at the point should be good enough to be a postseason participant.

Boston College and Virginia Tech should be once again on the bubble. Florida State and Miami have both lost players to the NBA and may pull off a couple of upsets that we are now used to but probably won’t have enough to go to the Dance. NC State can’t wait for next season’s talented freshmen recruits while Virginia is doomed to settle into last place. With the conference so deep, expect many of the middle of the pack teams to help boost their resumes with improbable upsets.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) UNC

2) Duke

3) Maryland

4) Georgia Tech

5) Clemson

6) Boston College

7) Wake Forest

Virginia Tech

9) Florida State

10) Miami

11) NC State

12) Virginia

Teams On the Rise:

Maryland, Duke, Boston College

Teams On the Decline:

NC State, Florida State, Virginia

Coach of the Year Candidates:

G. Williams, Maryland       R. Williams, UNC         Coach K, Duke

Player of the Year Candidates:

Singler, Duke       Davis, UNC        Vasquez, Maryland

Other ACC Players To Watch For:

Deon Thompson, UNC

Nolan Smith, Duke

Trevor Booker, Clemson

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest

Giani Lawal, GT

Freshman of the Year Candidates:

Derick Favors, GT

John Henson, UNC

Mfon Udofia, GT

Andre Dawkins, Duke

Milton Jennings, Clemson