The NC State men's basketball team was picked to finish eighth out of 18 teams in the ACC preseason media poll.
NC State finished the regular season at 18-14, but then shocked the nation by winning nine-straight games to capture the ACC Tournament and reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
NC State defeated Duke twice and North Carolina along the way. The Wolfpack finished No. 10 in the poll for The Associated Press.
NC State has lost shooting guard D.J. Horne, center D.J. Burns, wing Casey Morsell and power forward Mohamed Diarra from last year’s nucleus.
Senior point guard Michael O’Connell, senior shooting guard Jayden Taylor, senior center Ben Middlebrooks, senior guard Breon Pass and sophomore forward Dennis Parker return.
The Wolfpack welcome five transfers and three freshmen to the returning nucleus. Louisville transfers Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, a senior center, and redshirt junior wing Michael James understand the ACC, as does former North Carolina and Georgetown senior forward Dontrez Styles.
NC State also welcomes junior post player Ismael Diouf from Canada's Laval University and Bowling Green senior shooting guard transfer Marcus Hill.
2024 ACC Preseason Poll
School, Points
1. Duke (42), 956
2. North Carolina (11), 924
3. Wake Forest (1), 800
4. Clemson, 765
5. Virginia, 743
6. Miami, 659
7. Pitt, 636
8. NC State, 550
9. Louisville, 518
10. Notre Dame, 462
11. Syracuse, 454
12. Georgia Tech, 433
13. SMU, 344
14. Virginia Tech, 252
15. Florida State, 251
16. California, 206
17. Stanford, 165
18. Boston College, 116
First-place votes in parentheses; 54 total voters
•••
Preseason ACC Player of the Year
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 40 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 10
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 3
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 1
•••
Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 53 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 1
•••
Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
RJ Davis*, North Carolina, 54
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 52
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 52
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 41
Nijel Pack, Miami, 37
•••
Second Team
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 36
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 31
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 26
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 21
Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 20
*denotes unanimous selection
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