ATLANTA - Voting for president isn't this easy.
There were no October Surprises when assembled media predicted the order of finish in ACC basketball on Sunday and unanimously selected North Carolina for the second straight year. The Tar Heels, returning nearly everybody of consequence from a 36-win, Final Four team, got all 40 first-place votes and outdistanced Duke, Wake Forest and Miami in the top four.
"If you look at a roster, where do you see a downfall?" opined Boston College guard Tyrese Rice. "They have backup guys who can be almost as effective as their starters. They definitely should be and will be the preseason No. 1 in the conference, in college, in the world."
What? No galactic supremacy?
Tyler Hansbrough, on track to become the ACC's all-time scoring leader, was the unanimous pick for Player of the Year. He was joined on the first team by Rice; Miami guard Jack McClinton; teammate and point guard Ty Lawson; and Duke swing man Gerald Henderson.
Wake's Al-Farouq Aminu is the Rookie of the Year designate. The forward from suburban Atlanta is expected to challenge for a starting role on a team that returns its top five intact.
"He's one of those guys who can give you 15 (points) and eight (rebounds) every night because he can score in a lot of ways," Deacon guard Harvey Hale said. "And he's a really humble guy. He makes three shots? Same expression. He misses three shots? Same expression."
Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com
|
Rk |
Team (1st) |
Pts |
|
1 |
UNC (40) |
480 |
|
2 |
Duke |
436 |
|
3 |
Wake Forest |
354 |
|
4 |
Miami |
344 |
|
5 |
Clemson |
306 |
|
6 |
Virginia Tech |
298 |
|
7 |
Maryland |
192 |
|
8 |
Georgia Tech |
186 |
|
9 |
N.C. State |
179 |
|
10 |
Florida State |
145 |
|
11 |
Boston College |
123 |
|
12 |
Virginia |
79 |
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