Duke men's basketball checks in at No. 2 in preseason ACC media poll as Lively, Roach earn honors

Another year, another round of preseason honors for the Blue Devils.

Duke has been forecast to finish second in the ACC by media members who attended ACC Tipoff in Charlotte Oct. 12. The reigning regular-season conference champions also earned a pair of individual honors: Junior guard Jeremy Roach was selected to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, while freshman center Dereck Lively II beat out multiple Duke teammates for Preseason Rookie of the Year.

The Blue Devils earned two out of 101 first-place votes and were one of five teams to be balloted at the top of the conference. North Carolina was a near-unanimous selection, receiving 90 first-place votes, while Virginia—which placed third in the poll—received the second-most first-place votes with six.

Lively is the top recruit in Duke's top-ranked freshman class and could add to a long list of Blue Devils to take home Rookie of the Year honors. A Duke freshman, most recently eventual No. 1 NBA Draft choice Paolo Banchero in 2021-22, has won the award in eight of the past 11 seasons. At 7-foot-1, the No. 2 recruit in the 2022 class—also a Second Team selection in the poll—has the tools to join them.

Notably, Lively's main competition for the preseason honor came from his teammates: Dariq Whitehead (25 votes), Tyrese Proctor (five votes) and Mark Mitchell (three votes) were the next three finishers behind Lively (57 votes). The 7-foot Kyle Filipowski polled in a tie for fifth with two votes, alongside three others.

Roach, selected to a Preseason All-ACC Team for the first time in his career, beat out Virginia's Jayden Gardner by three votes for the final spot on the First Team. Duke's recently named captain took a step forward along his team's path to the Final Four in April and placed fourth with three votes for Preseason Player of the Year, awarded nearly unanimously to North Carolina Armando's Bacot. Bacot was runner-up to Wake Forest's Alondes Williams in 2021-22.

Whitehead, who is recovering from an August foot injury, also earned votes for Preseason Player of the Year.

The Blue Devils will have to wait until they begin ACC play Dec. 3 against Boston College at home to back up the panel's choice. Before then, they are in action Friday for Countdown to Craziness and Nov. 7 for their season opener against Jacksonville, both at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

1. Jayden Gardner, Virginia
2. Dereck Lively II, Duke
3. Justyn Mutts, Virginia Tech
4. PJ Hall, Clemson
5. RJ Davis, North Carolina

Preseason Player of the Year

1. Armando Bacot, North Carolina
2. Isaiah Wong, Miami
3. Caleb Love, North Carolina
4. Jeremy Roach, Duke
5. PJ Hall, Clemson
6. RJ Davis, North Carolina
7. Terquavion Smith, NC State
8. Hunter Cattoor, Virginia Tech
9. Dariq Whitehead, Duke

Preseason Rookie of the Year

1. Dereck Lively II, Duke
2. Dariq Whitehead, Duke
3. Tyrese Proctor, Duke
4. Mark Mitchell, Duke
5. Tyler Nickel, North Carolina
6. Jalen Washington, North Carolina
7. JJ Starling, Notre Dame
8. Kyle Filipowski, Duke
9. Prince Aligbe, Boston College
10. Isaac McKneely, Virginia
11. Seth Trimble, North Carolina

Full results of the poll can be found here.

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