ACC Spotlight: The top five players heading into 2022-23
With college basketball season quickly approaching, Rivals.com basketball recruiting analyst Travis Graf takes a look at the top five players from each Power Five conference heading into the 2022-23 campaign. Today, he starts off with the ACC.
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Bacot, the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year, has to top this list. He averaged a double-double as a junior and looked very comfortable playing as the only big man on the court under first-year head coach Hubert Davis. Bacot’s willingness to mix it up down low and go the extra mile for his team can’t be understated, and he’ll be a focal point yet again for a North Carolina squad that returns a lot of pieces looking to make another run.
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There’s no doubt that sophomore guard Smith will be the go-to player for Kevin Keatts’ squad this season. After making the All-ACC freshman team a year ago, Smith is in line to have a good shot to earn all-conference honors as a sophomore. Though erratic at times, the former three-star guard definitely outplayed his ranking as a freshman, shooting a very respectable 37-percent from the outside. The Wolfpack sophomore is already appearing in the first round on NBA Draft boards as the season approaches.
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Wong has been one of the best guards and scorers in the league over the past couple of seasons. He averaged fewer points per game as a junior than he did as a sophomore, but last season was his most efficient from the field. However Wong's his outside shooting numbers dipped a bit, as well as his free throw percentage. Look for Wong to have a better outside shooting season in his senior campaign and to average in the upper-teens in points per game.
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The former five-star guard came on strong towards the end of his sophomore season and was a huge part of the Tar Heels’ success during their Final Four run. Love displayed a lot of confidence in the last month of the season and should carry that over to the start of his junior campaign. The highlights of his tournament run came in the form of a 28-point outing against arch-rival Duke in the Final Four as well as a 30-point effort in the Sweet Sixteen against UCLA.
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While Whitehead has been dealing with an injury, a lot of people seem to have forgotten how talented the former five-star is as an all-around player. His freshman running mate, Dereck Lively, was voted Preseason Freshman of the Year recently, but I think Whitehead will have a strong say in that end-of-year award. Duke will be able to use him in a multitude of ways and the freshman should have a very strong year if he’s able to get back to 100-percent quickly. Whitehead is projected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.