Preseason Storylines to Watch Around ACC Basketball

Before last season, Louisville finished with a 12-52 record—including 5-35 in ACC play—from 2021 to 2024. The Cardinals then hired Pat Kelsey as head coach.

Kelsey's first season, the Cardinals made a dramatic turnaround, finishing 27-8, placing second in the ACC at 18-2, advancing to the ACC Tournament championship game, and earning their first NCAA tournament bid since 2021. Louisville also won more games last season than in the previous three years combined (25).

The Cardinals added guard Adrian Wooley, one of the top transfer portal targets nationally, from Kennesaw State. Wooley averaged 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season for the Owls and earned All-Conference USA honors.

Louisville also signed guards Isaac McKneely, who averaged 14.4 points per game at Virginia, and Ryan Conwell, who put up 16.5 points per game at Xavier. Both are regarded as sharpshooters. The Cardinals also added blue-chip point guard Mikel Brown Jr. and German center Sananda Fru, who is listed at 6-foot-11 and 245 pounds.

Another sign that Louisville is back? Kelsey reportedly got into a heated exchange with Mark Pope, the head coach of their biggest rival, Kentucky.

The American Gangster Comes to Raleigh

After the program spiraled just one year removed from its Final Four appearance in 2024, NC State fired Kevin Keatts. Seeking a spark, the Wolfpack needed someone capable of building a consistent winner and energizing the program. The coach that fits both of these things, Will Wade.

At every coaching stop, Wade has flipped programs quickly and has won an NCAA Tournament game at his last three stops.

At Chattanooga from 2013 to 2015, Wade turned a team that went 24-40 over two seasons into a 40-25 program in just two years. He led VCU to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths before taking the LSU job in 2017, where he guided the Tigers from a 10-21 record the year before he got there to the Sweet 16 by his second year. Wade was later fired by LSU for NCAA violations. He then took over at McNeese and delivered some of the best results of his career.

Wade orchestrated one of the most stunning turnarounds in college basketball at McNeese. The Cowboys were 11–23 the year before his arrival. In his first season? They finished 30–4, won the Southland Conference and earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 22 years.

NC State had the No. 14 transfer portal class, according to 247Sports. The Wolfpack added Darrion Williams from Texas Tech, one of the top transfer portal targets in the country. NC State also brought in Terrance Arceneaux (Houston), Tre Holloman (Michigan State), Ven-Allen Lubin, and his former point guard at McNeese State, Quadir Copeland.

The Prodigal Son Returns

Ryan Odom was hired by Virginia to bring back what Tony Bennett built.

Odom’s hiring comes with a dose of irony. He grew up around the Virginia program, where his father, Dave, was a longtime assistant before becoming a legendary head coach at Wake Forest. Adding to the storyline, Odom was the head coach at UMBC when it stunned Virginia in one of the most memorable upsets in college sports history.

While Odom might be recognizable because of that feat, he has led Utah State and, most recently, VCU to the NCAA Tournament.

In the transfer portal, the Cavaliers brought in:

• Jacari White (North Dakota State): 17.1 points per game, 45.2% FG, 39.8 3FG%)

• Malik Thomas (San Francisco): 19.9 points per game, 44.5 FG%, 39.4 3FG%

• Devin Tillis (UC Irvine): 13.7 points per game, 53.5 FG%, 39.5 3FG%

• Dallin Hall (BYU): 6.8 points and assists per game

Through the international ranks, Virginia added German big man Johann Grunlow, who averaged 7.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while playing for SC RASTA Vechta of the Basketball Bundesliga.

Can Syracuse Return to Prominence

Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry faced the difficult task of replacing his former coach, the legendary Jim Boeheim. Autry’s debut season was a success at 20-12, but the Orange slipped last year, finishing 13-19.

The good news for Syracuse is the return of combo guard J.J. Starling, who averaged 17.8 points per game, and forward Donnie Freeman, who contributed 13.4 points and 8 rebounds per contest. The Orange also brought in Naithan George (12.3 points per game at Georgia Tech) and Nate Kingz (who averaged nearly 12 points per game at Oregon State).

Freshman wing Kiyan Anthony, a top-25 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, also joins the Orange this season. For extra optimism, Syracuse fans can note that he is the son of Carmelo Anthony, who led the program to its first and only national championship.

Could Miami be the Most Improved Team in the ACC?

It will be an adjustment not seeing Jim Larrañaga on the sidelines in Coral Gables. From 2011 to 2024, Larrañaga guided Miami to its most successful era, including three Sweet 16s, two Elite Eight appearances, and the program’s first trip to the Final Four in 2023.

Larrañaga resigned in 2024 after the Hurricanes went 22-41 over his final two seasons. Signs of promise have emerged since Jai Lucas took over the program. Lucas arrived from Duke, where he served as Jon Scheyer’s top assistant for the previous two seasons.

Over the offseason, the Hurricanes brought in several key transfers through the portal:

• Tre Donaldson (Michigan): 11.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds last season

• Tra Washington (New Mexico): 11.1 points per game last season

• Malik Reneau (Indiana): 13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assits last season

• Ernest Udeh Jr. (TCU) : 6.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks last season

Through the high school ranks, Miami added top-25 freshman Shelton Henderson.

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