Duke is the 2018-19 Atlantic Coast Conference preseason favorite, according to the media poll conducted as part of the league’s annual Operation Basketball held Wednesday at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. The Blue Devils received 52 of 121 first place votes. ACC defending champion UVA placed second and UNC came in third.
Tar Heel senior Luke Maye, who is coming off a junior season in which he finished second in the ACC rebounding (10.1) and seventh in scoring (16.9), was voted ACC Preseason Player of the Year and Duke’s RJ Barrett, the #1 recruit in the 2018 class, was named preseason freshman of the year.
Here are the full results from the poll:
ACC Operation Basketball 2018-19 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
1-Duke (52) – 1709
2-Virginia (47) – 1699
3-North Carolina (20) – 1641
4-Syracuse (1) – 1268
5-Virginia Tech – 1187
6-Clemson (1) -1148
7-Florida State – 1127
8-NC State – 885
9-Notre Dame – 859
10-Miami – 816
11-Louisville – 735
12-Boston College – 568
13-Georgia Tech – 324
14-Wake Forest – 313
15-Pitt – 241
Preseason All-ACC
First Team:
Luke Maye, North Carolina (111)
Tyus Battle, Syracuse (86)
RJ Barrett, Duke (76)
Kyle Guy, Virginia (62)
Ky Bowman, Boston College (58)
Second Team:
Zion Williamson, Duke (55)
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia (32)
Justin Robinson, Virginia Tech (29)
Ty Jerome, Virginia (17)
Marcquise Reed, Clemson (16)
ACC Preseason Player of the Year:
Luke Maye, North Carolina (50)
RJ Barrett, Duke (22)
Zion Williamson, Duke (15)
Tyus Battle, Syracuse (11)
Ky Bowman, Boston College (7)
Kyle Guy, Virginia (5)
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia (4)
Ty Jerome, Virginia (2)
Justin Robinson, Virginia Tech (2)
Cam Reddish, Duke (1)
T.J. Gibbs, Notre Dame (1)
Jaylen Hoard, Wake Forest (1)
ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year:
RJ Barrett, Duke (66)
Zion Williamson, Duke (43)
Cam Reddish, Duke (4)
Jaylen Hoard, Wake Forest (3)
Coby White, North Carolina (2)
Jalen Carey, Syracuse (1)
Nate Laszewski, Notre Dame (1)
Jairus Hamilton, Boston College (1)
ACC teams open regular-season play on Tuesday, November 6. Ten games are set for opening night involving league teams, including Duke versus Kentucky in the State Farm Champions Classic in Indianapolis. A traditional in-state rivalry game is also set for November 6, as Florida State welcomes Florida to Tallahassee.
The first conference game of the 2018-19 season is set for New Year’s Day, when Notre Dame visits Virginia Tech at 1 p.m.