University of North Carolina Athletics
Media Picks Tar Heels To Finish Third In ACC
October 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 20, 2010
CHARLOTTE - The Atlantic Coast Conference held its annual Operation Basketball media gathering on Wednesday in Charlotte and the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association picked North Carolina to finish third in the conference in 2010-11. ACSMA predicted that first-place Duke and second-place Virginia Tech would finish ahead of the Tar Heels.
Duke received 61 of 62 first-place votes and 743 points overall in the voting. Virginia Tech tallied 632 points and the Tar Heels had 622 points. UNC earned one first-place vote, 20 second-place votes, 27 third-place votes, eight fourth-place votes and six fifth-place votes.
NC State was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll with 526 points, followed by No. 5 Florida State (496), No. 6 Maryland (432), No. 7 Clemson (335), No. 8 Miami (305), No. 9 Georgia Tech (274), No. 10 Boston College (173), No. 11 Virginia (164) and No. 12 Wake Forest (134).
Duke's Kyle Singler was the choice for Preseason ACC Player of the Year with 38 votes, followed by Virginia Tech's Malcolm Delaney (20) and Duke's Nolan Smith (four).
Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes was the overwhelming choice for Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, amassing 46 of 62 votes. Duke's Kyrie Irving (nine votes), NC State's C.J. Leslie (five), NC State's Ryan Harrow (one) and Wake Forest's Travis McKie (one) also received rookie-of-the-year votes.
Barnes also received 16 votes for the Preseason All-ACC team, finishing sixth in the voting for the five-man squad. Singler (a unanimous choice with 62 votes) led the voting for the All-ACC squad. Delaney (61), Smith (55), NC State's Tracy Smith (45) and Florida State's Chris Singleton (29) rounded out the team.
Carolina will play its lone exhibition game of the 2010-11 preseason on Friday Nov. 5 when it hosts Barton College. The Tar Heels will tip off the regular season a week later on Nov. 12 against Lipscomb at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
