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 two seasons as head coach and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Incoming freshman Cooper Flagg headlines another talent-rich roster, which includes returning guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. Duke will start the season at No. 7 in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Devils had 42 of the 54 first-place votes and North Carolina picked up 11 votes. Wake Forest was the only other school to receive a first-place vote. N.C. State, the reigning ACC Tournament champion and a Final Four participant, was picked to finish eighth.
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Here’s a look at the preseason awards and media poll.
UNC basketball’s RJ Davis, Duke basketball’s Cooper Flagg lead All-ACC preseason awards
Fifth-year UNC guard RJ Davis received 40 of 50 votes to repeat as ACC Player of the Year, while Duke’s Cooper Flagg picked up 10 votes in that category. Flagg is the preseason favorite to win Rookie of the Year as the top-ranked recruit in the nation and projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
2024-25 ACC basketball preseason poll predictions
Preseason All-ACC Teams
Here are the preseason All-ACC first and second teams.
First Team
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RJ Davis, North Carolina, 54
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Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 52
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Cooper Flagg, Duke, 52
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Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 41
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Nijel Pack, Miami, 37
Second Team
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Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 36
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Chase Hunter, Clemson, 31
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Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 26
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Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 21
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Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 20
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
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RJ Davis, North Carolina, 40 votes
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Cooper Flagg, Duke, 10
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Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 3
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Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 1
ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
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Cooper Flagg, Duke, 53 votes
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Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 1
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: ACC basketball: Duke Blue Devils favored in 2024 preseason predictions
