To many along Tobacco Road, Friday is like a holiday, as ACC basketball gets under way with various forms of midnight madness celebrations around the league.
It signals that hoops is back, and in less than a month Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Terrapins, Cavaliers and the rest of the conference will get rolling on the hardwood. But while the anticipation for ACC hoops never wanes, the league underwent several changes again in the offseason.
New coaches at N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Miami give the conference seven new coaches since the 2010 ACC Tournament. Virginia’s Tony Bennett is in his third season, but has the fifth longest tenure among the 12 head men.
Mark Gottfried takes over for Sidney Lowe at N.C. State. Where Lowe promised his teams would play an up-tempo style, Gottfried’s are certain to run a lot more. Gottfried had a solid run for a decade at Alabama and is regarded as a considerable upgrade over Lowe.
“We can’t do anything about last year, we have to concentrate on this year, right now,” the new Wolfpack coach said. “And it’s just part of what we do every day. We want our guys to learn to be unselfish, to really care about somebody else on the team as much as they care about themselves. . . . That’s a point of emphasis for us every day.”
Mark Turgeon left a successful gig at Texas A&M for the challenge of replacing should-be Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams, who surprised a lot of people by retiring from Maryland last spring. Brian Gregory replaces Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech, and the new life in the program should be enough to push it in the right direction, even though the talent pool is in short supply at The Flats.
And 62-year-old Jim Larranaga takes over at Miami after a very successful run at George Mason. Larranaga led the Patriots to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2006 Final Four. He, too, is an upgrade over former coach Frank Haith, and his team is talented enough to reach the NCAAs.
Like is usually the case, the ACC has at least one obvious national championship contender, and this season it’s North Carolina. The Tar Heels return all five starters from a club that won the ACC regular season title and narrowly lost to Kentucky in the East Regional finals.
Duke must replace its top three players, but Mike Krzyzewski’s team is loaded with talent inside and on the perimeter, and should be a balanced club that improves throughout the season. Florida State has Final Four potential in the eyes of some pundits.
“Florida State has a lot of guys back that have been really successful for them,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “There’s been some changes in the coaching in the league. And just about every one of the coaching changes has four or five, at least, really good players. . . . I don’t think there’s any question we’re still one of the strongest leagues in the country.”
Virginia gets Mike Scott back and could challenge for an NCAA invitation. Virginia Tech will be young, but talented. Clemson is a bit in flux, but has enough players to make a push for the NCAAs.
Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Boston College are in the midst of major rebuilding projects and are a year or more away from climbing the league ladder.
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