Clemson picked in ACC men's basketball top-five preseason, PJ Hall named to first team |
CHARLOTTE — PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) was tabbed preseason First Team All-ACC on Thursday by media at the league’s annual preseason media day, which was held in Charlotte on Wednesday. Hall is the second Clemson player since 2020 to be named preseason All-ACC First Team, joining Aamir Simms.
In addition, Clemson was chosen to finish fifth in the ACC. That is the highest preseason prediction for the Tigers since 2008-09 when they were also picked to finish fifth. Hall was named to the first team along with Kyle Filipowski (Duke), Armando Bacot (North Carolina), Reece Beekman (Virginia) and Norchad Omier (Miami (Fla.)). He is coming off of a Third Team All-ACC season in 2022-23. He averaged a team-leading 15.3 points per game to go along with 5.7 rebounds per contest and 37 blocks and 22 steals. He shot 53.5 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from three. He finished 78.6 percent from the foul line. In league play, Hall was even better. The Spartanburg, S.C. native averaged a team-best 17.6 points to go with 6.6 rebounds. He shot 54.0 percent in ACC play, including 83.3 percent at the foul line. He maintained a high average from three (38.6 percent). Hall became the 45th 1,000-point scorer in Clemson history against Notre Dame (March 4, 2023) and has 1,043 points entering this season. He became just the 11th from the state of South Carolina to score 1,000 points at Clemson. Despite being on a minute restriction last year, Hall produced 27 double-digit scoring games, ten 20-point games and four double-doubles. Clemson set a new mark for league wins in any conference last season with 14 ACC victories. The 14 wins broke a school record by three games. The .700 winning percentage was the third best in Clemson history, and better than 11 of the previous 13 Clemson teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Clemson started 7-0 and 10-1 in the ACC last year and the seven consecutive league wins tied a school record that dated to 1967. The Tigers had six wins over teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, just one less than Clemson’s Sweet 16 team of 2018. Many of the victories were in dominant fashion. The Tigers won eight ACC games by double digits and five of those were by at least 20 points. No other ACC team had as many league wins by that margin. ACC release and vote tallies CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Duke was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2023-24 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, following a vote of a select media panel. Ranked No. 2 nationally in the preseason Associated Press poll, the Blue Devils are the preseason ACC favorites for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons. The media panelists selected Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, while North Carolina’s Elliot Cadeau was chosen as ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year. The reigning ACC champions, Duke claimed 44 of the 51 first-place votes, accumulating 757 points. Coming off the first Final Four trip in program history, Miami earned five first-place votes and totaled 693 points to finish second in the poll, marking the Hurricanes’ top preseason projection in program history (previous high was fourth in 2009, 2018 and 2023). North Carolina earned one first-place vote and 670 points to finish third in the poll, while Virginia earned the other first-place vote and totaled 593 points to take fourth. Clemson finished with 570 points to notch fifth in the preseason poll. Wake Forest (440 points) was sixth in the poll and was followed in seventh through 15th place, respectively, by NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Notre Dame. A First-Team All-ACC honoree last season, Filipowski leads the Preseason All-ACC Team and is joined on the first team by Clemson’s PJ Hall, Miami’s Norchad Omier, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot and Virginia’s Reece Beekman. The second team is comprised of Boston College’s Quinten Post, Duke’s Tyrese Proctor, Miami’s Nijel Pack, Pitt’s Blake Hinson and Syracuse’s Judah Mintz. Also named a First-Team Associated Press Preseason All-American, Filipowski returns for his sophomore season after being named ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, an honorable mention All-American and the Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year following the 2022-23 season. The 7-foot center led the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding last season, averaging 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He finished the year with 31 double-digit scoring efforts and his 15.1 points per game were seventh most by a freshman nationally. He led all Division I freshmen with his 16 double-doubles, which ranked 11th nationally among all players. A 6-1 guard from West Orange, New Jersey, Cadeau was named a Second-Team Max Preps All-American in 2023 after averaging 10.9 points and 7.6 assists in leading Link Academy (Branson, Missouri) to a 27-1 record. Link won the GEICO Nationals championship in Fort Myers, Florida, behind his tournament-record 29 assists in three games. He also played for the New Heights (N.Y.) Lightning, where he averaged 15.7 points and 9.3 assists over the 17-game 2023 EYBL schedule. Cadeau also plays for Sweden’s national team and made his senior team debut in 2023 versus Germany in a World Cup qualifier. The 71st season of ACC men’s basketball begins on Monday, Nov. 6, with 14 of the league’s 15 teams in action. League play starts Saturday, Dec. 2. The ACC’s current 15 member schools have captured three of the last eight NCAA Championships, with 99 NCAA Tournament wins in that span. Current ACC schools have won eight NCAA titles in the last 22 tournaments and own 17 national championships overall. Current ACC member schools have combined for 67 Men’s Final Four appearances and a national-best 664 NCAA Tournament wins. The ACC owns the highest all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage of any league (.618). All 15 league members own 1,000 or more all-time wins, including eight schools with 1,500 or more victories. Four of the top eight and six of the top 30 winningest programs in NCAA Division I basketball history currently reside in the ACC. 2023 ACC Preseason Poll School, Points 1. Duke (44), 757 2. Miami (5), 693 3. North Carolina (1), 670 4. Virginia (1), 593 5. Clemson, 570 6. Wake Forest, 440 7. NC State, 420 8. Virginia Tech, 390 9. Pitt, 380 10. Syracuse, 321 11. Florida State, 294 12. Boston College, 227 13. Georgia Tech, 157 14. Louisville, 108 15. Notre Dame, 100 First-place votes in parentheses 51 total voters Preseason All-ACC First Team Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 51 Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 50 PJ Hall, Clemson, 48 Reece Beekman, Virginia, 44 Norchad Omier, Miami, 42 Second Team Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 39 Nijel Pack, Miami, 34 Blake Hinson, Pitt, 33 Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 24 Quinten Post, Boston College, 23 ACC Preseason Player of the Year Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 35 votes Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 13 PJ Hall, Clemson, 2 Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 1 ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina, 40 votes Jared McCain, Duke, 6 Caleb Foster, Duke, 3 Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 1 Carlton Carrington, Pitt, 1
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