Louisville Picked Seventh in ACC Basketball Preseason Poll
October 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The Cardinals received 821 points in the preseason poll.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men's basketball team was picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference, according to a vote of the media attending the league's annual 'Operation Basketball' on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.
Louisville, which received 821 points in the poll, returns just two players – juniors Mangok Mathiang and David Levitch – that have competed with the Cardinals for more than one full season. From the team that reached the Elite Eight last year, the Cardinals bring back only 17 percent of their scoring and 35 percent of their rebounding.
The Cardinals, under the direction of 15th-year coach Rick Pitino, have won 123 games over the last four years – the second-most in the nation in that stretch. The Hall of Fame coach has directed the program to 20 or more wins in each of the last 13 seasons, and the Cardinals have been just as successful in the classroom. The team has earned its last four consecutive conference top team academic excellence awards.
Transfers Damion Lee and Trey Lewis are likely to headline this year's group after decorated careers at their previous schools. A candidate for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, Lee ranked fourth in the nation with 21.4 points per game last season at Drexel. Lewis, meanwhile, was a first-team all-conference pick at Cleveland State, where he connected on 96 3-pointers in 2014-15.
North Carolina, which returns four starters from last year's team that reached ACC Tournament final and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, received 60 of 89 first-place votes. The Tar Heels also boast the preseason ACC co-Player of the Year in Marcus Paige, with Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon sharing the honors.
Virginia, which claimed the 2014 ACC championship and placed atop the ACC regular-season standings in both 2014 and 2015, received 18 first-place votes and placed second in the overall preseason voting. Defending national champion Duke (eight first-place votes) placed third.
Defending ACC champion Notre Dame received one first-place and placed fourth, followed by Miami, Florida State (one first-place vote), and Louisville.
NC State placed eighth, while Syracuse received the remaining first-place vote and finished ninth. Pitt placed 10th, while Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Boston College rounded out the voting.
Duke freshman Brandon Ingram, a 6-foot-9, 190-pound swing man from Kinston, N.C., was the overwhelming choice as ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year on 82 of the ballots cast.
Paige, Brogdon, Ingram, Florida State's Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Notre Dame's Demtrius Jackson were voted to the Preseason All-ACC first team. Virginia's Anthony Gill, Duke's Grayson Allen, Notre Dame's Zach Auguste, NC State's Anthony "Cat" Barber and North Carolina's Johnson were second-team selections.
The Tar Heels tied with Kentucky for the No. 1 spot in the USA Today Coaches' Preseason Poll, while Duke ranked fourth and Virginia sixth. Notre Dame was voted 18th, while Louisville, NC State, Florida State, and Miami all received votes.
The regular season begins for all 15 ACC teams the weekend of Nov. 13-15. In addition to an 18-game regular-season conference schedule, the 63rd annual ACC Tournament will be held March 8-12 (Tuesday through Saturday) at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
ACC Operation Basketball 2015-16 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
Team & Points
1. North Carolina (60): 1292
2. Virginia (18): 1226
3. Duke (8): 1187
4. Notre Dame (1): 949
5. Miami: 841
6. Florida State (1): 827
7. Louisville: 821
8. NC State: 808
9. Syracuse (1): 666
10. Pitt: 623
11. Wake Forest: 391
12. Clemson: 359
13. Georgia Tech: 296
14. Virginia Tech: 260
15. Boston College: 134
2015-16 Preseason All-ACC Team
(votes in parenthesis)
First team
Marcus Paige, Sr., North Carolina (86)
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia (77)
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, So., Florida State (43)
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke (29)
Demetrius Jackson, Jr., Notre Dame (28)
Second team
Anthony Gill, Sr., Virginia (27)
Grayson Allen, So., Duke (27)
Zach Auguste, Sr., Notre Dame (24)
Anthony "Cat" Barber, Jr., NC State (22)
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina (22)
ACC Preseason Co-Players of the Year
Marcus Paige, Sr., North Carolina
Malcolm Brodgon, Sr., Virginia
ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year
Brandon Ingram, Duke
