ACCBR Preseason 2020-21 Predictions

The season may be in question but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t Make predictions

The transfers have received their waivers, the “test the water” crowd has returned to school, and the universities have shown their desire to press on. The only thing left to do is make predictions that will embarrass us in eight months!

Here they are folks, ACC Basketball Report’s predictions for the 2020-21 ACC basketball season.

First of all, let’s take a look at my predicted final standings:

1	Virginia
2	North Carolina
3	Duke
4	Georgia Tech
5	Florida State
6	Miami (FL)
7	Louisville
8	Syracuse
9	North Carolina State
10	Clemson
11	Virginia Tech
12	Boston College
13	Pittsburgh
14	Notre Dame
15	Wake Forest

Just a few quick notes on why I have teams where. I think Georgia Tech has the best mix of talent and experience when it comes to its back court in the entire league. That, combined with the inexperience of FSU’s back court is why I give the Jackets the edge.

Miami (FL) was the hardest team for me to place. This roster is supremely talented on the wing but the trend has gone the wrong way since Lonnie Walker IV bolted. I have to think that a senior Chris Lykes is going to lead this team and the ‘Canes get back to the dance.

Yes, I believe in David Johnson. The problem has been that in recent seasons when Jordan Nwora struggled, Louisville struggled. Well, Nwora isn’t even in town anymore and their best player played in the Big South last season. I need to watch the Cardinals play before I put too much faith in them.

I have Clemson at #10 in the preseason but of all of the bottom half teams I think they could be the best. I think the departure of Tevin Mack could ultimately be a positive due to it clearing the path for Johnny Newman III to become a star. Newman, Al-Amir Dawes and Aamir Simms are a legit ACC trio. Throw in talented freshman PJ Hall, the development of Chase Hunter, and the shooting of Alex Hemenway and Hunter Tyson and this Tigers group could suprise some people. This team could finish as high as 6th in my opinion.

I love some of the individuals in the bottom five but i question the Hokies frontcourt, the Eagles health, and Notre Dame’s depth. Wake Forest is in full rebuild but Steve Forbes will make them competitive.

Moving on to individual awards and All-Conference teams, I can tell you this was difficult. I could have easily have made four or five teams and some of the omissions were very hard to justify. I’ll let you judge for yourself.

First Team	Player	Team
Guard	Jose Alvarado	Georgia Tech
Forward	Scottie Barnes	Florida State
Forward	Jalen Johnson	Duke
Forward	Garrison Brooks	North Carolina
Center	Jay Huff	Virginia

Second Team
Guard	Caleb Love	North Carolina
Guard	Mike Devoe	Georgia Tech
Guard	Kihei Clark	Virginia
Forward	Justin Champagnie	Pittsburgh
Forward	Steffon Mitchell	Boston College

Third Team
Guard	Prentiss Hubb	Notre Dame
Guard	Chris Lykes	Miami (FL)
Wing	Devon Daniels	North Carolina State
Wing	Sam Hauser	Virginia
Forward	DJ Funderburk	North Carolina State

Defensive Team
Guard	Kihei Clark	Virginia
Forward	Steffon Mitchell	Boston College
Center	Juwan Durham	Notre Dame
Center	Jay Huff	Virginia
Center	Manny Bates	North Carolina State

Freshman Team
Guard	Caleb Love	North Carolina
Guard	DJ Steward	Duke
Wing	Jabri Abdur-Rahim	Virginia
Forward	Jalen Johnson	Duke
Forward	Scottie Barnes	Florida State

Player	Garrison Brooks	North Carolina
Coach	Tony Bennett	Virginia
Defensive	Manny Bates	North Carolina State
Freshman	Scottie Barnes	Florida State
6th Man	Harlond Beverly	Miami (FL)
MIP	David Johnson	Louisville

The first thing that jumps out (or should) is WHERE IS AAMIR SIMMS!? Well, that is what I was talking about above. My “process” in creating these teams is you go with your first instinct and then you review the list of players and determine who you would remove in order to put that player on a list. Sam Hauser for Simms? Unlikely given where their teams are most likely to finish. DJ Funderburk? Not for me. That was evident by my preseason returning player rankings where I had DJ a spot ahead of Aamir.

The other obvious omission is Buddy Boeheim. Remember in the returning players rankings I said he was a one trick pony? Well, that one dimensional type of play led me to ultimately leaving him off of a team. Jay Heath is also going to be very good but his team is most likely not going to be great so I had to put Prentiss Hubb in there ahead of him because Hubb is going to put up foolish scoring numbers in my opinion.

The defensive team was a little more difficult, mostly because it is difficult to evaluate/predict how freshman are going to adapt to the college game. Sometimes they play defense, sometimes they don’t. I could see Caleb Love being a defensive dynamo for instance. Whether or not he is that remains to be seen. Typically, I lean towards “freshmen don’t play defense.”

As far as the individual awards go, Garrison Brooks feels like the Player of the Year by just a hair over Jay Huff. The latter has all the potential in the world but Brooks really showed me something at the end of last season.

Manny Bates is my Defensive Player of the Year simply because if he plays 24-27 minutes per game he is going to be the first guy in the ACC since Sean Williams in 2006-07 to block 4.0 shots per game. Sean blocked 5.0 shots per game if you had forgotten how effing awesome that kid was.

Scottie Barnes as my Freshman of the Year was pretty simple. He is going to play a ton of minutes and have the ball in his hands a majority of the time. He is super athletic and will give the Seminoles opportunities to change courts quickly and get easy buckets. That pick is my lead pipe lock.

Harlond Beverly may the be the biggest stretch of the bunch. The biggest reason is that he might start. The future is bright with Beverly and fellow sophomore Isaiah Wong. Whichever one doesn’t start is going to be the Sixth Man of the Year.

Bennett and Johnson are obvious choices for Coach and Most Improved Player.

I hope you guys enjoyed it and disagreed with it vehemently. Feel free to let me know on the twitterverse. Don’t forget to check out the ACC Basketball Report podcast, the best podcast dedicated to the best basketball conference in the country. Latah!