Already, the season has yet to start and the preseason is just around the corner, but that doesn't stop the chatter for the 2024-25 campaign. At least for the Atlantic Coast Conference, changes are notable and exciting: adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU, the conference now stretches from beyond the East Coast boundaries and redefines what it means to be the "Atlantic Coast" Conference. The ACC is the most recent conference to emerge, as four different teams, North Carolina, Duke, Miami, and NC State, have made an appearance in the Final Four over the last three seasons.
A Conference on the Rise. Looking ahead, ACC leads all conferences in 5-star freshmen, with nine top-class baggers from Duke, Miami, UNC, and Georgia Tech in the top 15, according to 247Sports. Heavy hitters all in top Class baggers in the ACC, including Duke, Miami, UNC, and Georgia Tech in the top 15 in recruiting classes, according to 247Sports. ACC teams have not done so well in the transfer portal so far this year. This year, no ACC team got a top 15 player in a transfer, and just 13 of the top 100 transferred in to the ACC at all.
But the conference remains a juggernaut with its mixture of seniors and juniors. Eight ACC teams will begin 2019-20 with four or more players who have played over 2,000 career Division I minutes, and nine teams boast at least one player with over 3,000 career minutes on the court.
Teams to Watch: A Closer Look at Duke
Duke Blue Devils
Biggest Losses: Kyle Filipowski (16.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg), Jared McCain (14.3 ppg, 5 rpg), Jeremy Roach (14 ppg, 3 apg), Mark Mitchell (11.6 ppg, 6 rpg)
- Returning Rotation Players: Proctor (10.5 ppg, 3.7 apg), Caleb Foster (7.7 ppg)
- Top 100 Freshmen Added: No. 1 Cooper Flagg, No. 6 Kham
- Top 100 Transfers Added: None
**Why They're Here
Number one, our number one, comes in Duke, despite this team losing its top four scorers and returning just two vital pieces. Still, at the lead for the Blue Devils is an impressive recruiting class, headlined by generational talent in Cooper Flagg—their number one recruit. Flagg already is expected to have a big impact and end up going high in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Head coach Jon Scheyer has strategically remade his roster, turning away multiple high profile recruits to make room for transfers that bolster Flagg's skill set. Namely, Mason Gillis (Purdue): The reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the year. Maliq Brown (Syracuse), who has established himself as a very good defender. Sion James (Tulane) – Division I minutes that rack up just under 4,000.
Others are part of a supporting cast with fellow elite freshmen, like 7-2 center Maluach, a native of South Sudan via senior international competition this summer, and several experienced players, including Proctor and Foster. With this sort of mix of talent, Duke is going to be well-prepared to take it deep towards a national championship.
Now the ACC braces for a season of new hopes and novel changes as its fans and analysts watch whatever develops from that particular situation. Stay tuned for more updates and insights as the season approaches!
