University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Preseason No. 1 In Blue Ribbon Poll
September 18, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 18, 2007
North Carolina heads up a list of four Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook 2007-08 Preseason Top 25 rankings, released this week.
The Tar Heels return three starters this season, led by national player of the year candidate Tyler Hansbrough and sophomore guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. Eight other lettermen, including 2005-06 starters Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard, also will return to the court for head coach Roy Williams in 2007-08.
In addition to the top-ranked Tar Heels, Duke is ranked 14th, NC State 17th and Clemson 21st.
As a league, the ACC returns 39 starters (65 percent) for the 2007-08 season and for the second-straight season 10 teams return three or more starters. A year ago, ACC teams returned 41 starters (68 percent) from the 2005-06 season. Clemson, Duke, Florida State, NC State and Wake Forest each return a league-high four starters while Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, Carolina and Virginia return three starters. Maryland and Virginia each return two starters.
Five players who earned 2007 All-ACC honors return, including Hansbrough, Virginia's Sean Singletary, Boston College Tyrese Rice, Miami's Jack McClinton, and NC State's Brandon Costner. Hansbrough and Singletary earned first-team honors for a second-straight year, while Rice was a second team pick. Costner and McClinton were third team selections.
Hansbrough and Singletary are the first two-time first-team All-ACC duo to return since Georgia Tech's Matt Harpring and North Carolina's Antawn Jamison did so in 1997-98. Hansbrough is bidding to become the Tar Heels' first three-time All-ACC performer since Jamison and eighth overall while Singletary is looking to become the Cavaliers' third three-time All-ACC honoree and the first since Bryant Stith in 1992.
Four players who led the ACC in six statistical categories a year ago are slated to return for the 2007-08 season. Wake Forest's Ishmael Smith was only the fifth freshman in ACC history to lead the league in assists (6.0). Miami's Jack McClinton led the ACC in free throw percentage (.895), three-point field goal percentage (.440) and three-point field goals per game (2.9). Carolina's Lawson led the ACC as a freshman in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.6:1) while Miami's Dwayne Collins was tops in offensive rebounds (3.3).
2007-08 Blue Ribbon Pre-Season Rankings
1. North Carolina
2. UCLA
3. Georgetown
4. Tennessee
5. Memphis
6. Michigan State
7. Kansas
8. Louisville
9. Indiana
10. Marquette
11. Kentucky
12. Washington State
13. Oregon
14. Duke
15. Arizona
16. USC
17. NC State
18. Wisconsin
19. Texas
20. Stanford
21. Clemson
22. Gonzaga
23. Syracuse
24. Arkansas
25. Villanova
