Duke won an Atlantic Coast Conference title with a national player of the year in 2024, then did it again last year.
The second-ranked Blue Devils might lack the same type of headlining talent for Jon Scheyer's fifth season, but they're expected to stay in their perch all the same.
Duke is the preseason favorite to win the ACC crown for the fourth time under Scheyer, the 39-year-old former Blue Devils star and successfor for Hall of Fame mentor Mike
Krzyzewski. That run has included producing a pair of Associated Press national players of the year in eventual No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg in 2025 and Cameron Boozer last year.
Those teams went 42-2 against ACC opponents. Now they Blue Devils will try to keep rolling by leaning into their depth in a league race featuring No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Louisville and No. 14 Miami.
“I think our depth is real, and that's different,” Scheyer said. “We're going to have to figure out how ... go where the players take us in terms of playing time and how that should work. But I think the balance of our size in the frontcourt and our guard experience, I think that's a balance we haven't had yet.”
The Blue Devils (35-3) return a pair of NBA prospects in big man Patrick Ngongba II and wing Dame Sarr, added one of the nation's top transfers in Wisconsin guard John Blackwell then brought in another top-tier recruiting class that includes an American playing internationally in big man Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje.
The Cavaliers (30-6) and Cardinals (24-11) are Duke's top challengers.
Virginia had an immediate leap in Year 1 under Ryan Odom and reached last year's ACC Tournament title game, then won its first March Madness game since cutting down the nets under Tony Bennett in 2019. The Wahoos return three starters, including preseason ACC player of the year Thijs De Ridder.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, cracked the top 10 with a transfer-heavy retool but stumbled to a 5-5 finish. They've leaned even more into the portal with 247Sports' No. 2-ranked class, topped by Kansas big man Flory Bidunga as the No. 1 addition.
“The length and athleticism that we added hopefully will make us an elite defensive and rebounding team as well in competing at this level,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said.
The 6-foot-9, 238-pound De Ridder thrived last year in his transition from being a multiyear professional player from Europe, averaging 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds.
The 6-9, 235-pound Bidunga will give Louisville an inside presence (13.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 64% shooting) and rim protection (fourth nationally at 2.6 blocks). Blackwell, the No. 3-ranked transfer addition, joins Duke after averaging 19.1 points for the Badgers.
They join Ngongba and Miami forward Shelton Henderson (13.8 points) on the preseason all-ACC first team.
The league's top transfers include Louisville's Jackson Shelstad and Seth Trimble.
Shelstad averaged 15.6 points at Oregon but played just 12 games due to a hand injury. He scored 23 points in a preseason win at No. 17 Kansas. The experienced Trimble arrives from North Carolina — where he hit one of the biggest shots in college basketball last season — after a court win for a fifth eligibility year.
UNC has three transfers to watch in versatile forward Neo Avdalas (Virginia Tech) along with guards Terrence Brown (Utah) and Matt Able (N.C. State).
Duke's Boumtje Boumtje is the preseason pick for ACC rookie of the year. The 7-2, 250-pounder is a skilled big who can step outside. And as a 17-year-old NBA prospect who reclassified to get to Duke a year early, he's set for a two-year college stay since he won't be draft eligible until 2028.
He's joined by point guard Deron Rippey Jr. and big man Cameron Williams in Duke's third straight No. 1-ranked recruiting class by 247Sports.
North Carolina's hiring of Michael Malone stood out among the league's five coaching changes.
The Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis last year after five seasons. And after missing on a pursuit of Arizona's Tommy Lloyd, they turned to the 55-year-old Malone, who three years earlier led the NBA's Denver Nuggets to a championship.
Two programs turned to former players in N.C. State hiring Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey after Will Wade's one-year tenure ended in a messy exit to LSU, while Syracuse hired Gerry McNamara from Siena to replace the fired Adrian Autry.
Additionally, Boston College hired UConn assistant Luke Murray after firing Earl Grant and Georgia Tech hired Troy head coach Scott Cross after firing Damon Stoudamire.
The changes mark the latest in a multiyear sideline overhaul that has included the departures of Hall of Famers like Krzyzewski, UNC's Roy Williams and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. The league has gone from its head coaches having an average tenure of 13.5 years in 2020-21 before Williams' retirement started the exodus to 4.1 this year.
Champion: Duke; 2) Virginia; 3) Louisville; 4) Miami; 5) UNC; 6) Clemson; 7) Florida State; 8) N.C. State; 9) Virginia Tech; 10) SMU; 11) Syracuse; 12) Pittsburgh; 13) Stanford; 14) Wake Forest; 15) California; 16) Notre Dame; 17) Boston College; 18) Georgia Tech.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here
