WRAL Sports Fan

College Basketball

UNC picked first, Duke second, N.C. State ninth in preseason ACC poll

By Dane Huffman

Oct 26, 2008

North Carolina was the unanimous choice to win the ACC in men’s basketball, with Duke picked second and N.C. State picked ninth.

The voting was held Sunday in Atlanta by the media at Operation Basketball.

UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson and Duke’s Gerald Henderson were named to the preseason All-ACC team, and Wake Forest’s Al-Farouq Aminu was the preseason rookie of the year.

ACC basketball preseason poll

Operation Basketball, Atlanta (40 total ballots)

1. North Carolina (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

Preseason all-conference team

(37 ballots)

C Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

G Tyrese Rice,Boston College

G Jack McClinton, Miami

G Ty Lawson, UNC

G-F Gerald Henderson, Duke

Preseason Player of the Year

Tyler Hansbrough (unanimous)

Preseason Rookie of the Year

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest