2023-24 ACC Season Preview
In a conference full of heightened expectations and optimism, breaking down each ACC team's season outlook
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The ACC had the most teams make the NCAA Tournament last season of any conference, and a quarter of the teams in last season’s Sweet 16, tied for the most among all conferences. As you might expect, that’s led to heightened expectations across the ACC and a lot of optimism among the conference’s coaches but also an awareness of how tough this season is going to be. Let’s take a look at each of the ACC’s 15 teams and what we might expect to see.
Teams are presented in order of their projected finish as voted by the conference’s Blue Ribbon Panel.
No. 8 Virginia Tech
Head Coach: Kenny Brooks (8th season)
2022-23 Record: 31-5, 14-4 ACC (Final Four)
Key departures: Taylor Soule, Kayana Traylor, D'asia Gregg
Notable additions: Matilda Ekh (Michigan State), Rose Micheaux (Minnesota), Olivia Summiel (Wake Forest), Carys Baker (ESPN No. 58 recruit), Mackenzie Nelson (ESPN No. 65 recruit), Samyha Suffren (ESPN No. 69 recruit), Clara Strack (ESPN No. 95 recruit)
Key returners: Georgia Amoore, two-time ACC Player of the Year Liz Kitley
What to watch for:
Nowhere are expectations higher than in Blacksburg. As Kenny Brooks put it “We could have the Lakers on the schedule and [our fans] think that we’re supposed to beat them…” The looming question in Blacksburg is whether the Hokies follow up the program’s first-ever ACC championship and Final Four with a repeat of either, or both. Brooks says that while Virginia Tech should “utilize the experience” his team gained during their run, they’re no longer celebrating last season’s accomplishments. For most of the Hokies, it won’t be hard to forget that 2022-23 run, as Georgia Amoore, Liz Kitley and Cayla King are the only returners that saw playing time last season. Cayleigh Wenzel, who is coming off a redshirt season, is the other returner. The rest of the roster is new.
If you’re only going to have a few returners, though, Kitley and Amoore are pretty darn good ones to have. Kitley has won ACC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons. She was also named an AP Preseason All-American on Tuesday. Amoore is one of the best point guards in the country and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Seattle 2 Regional in March. Kitley and Amoore were the fourth and seventh-best scorers in the ACC last season. Both also made the national preseason watch lists for best player at their respective positions.
Virginia Tech adds some key transfers and highly-touted freshmen. The one that garnered the highest praise at ACC Tipoff was Michigan State transfer Matilda Ekh. Of Ekh, her new backcourt mate, Amoore said: “She’s just a 3-point lethal weapon… She's a better shooter than I am.” Amoore, whose 4.9 assists per game ranked 40th in the country last year, added that “the joy I get is I get to set her up.”
Brooks thinks that while they’ll certainly be younger, they’ll be deeper. It might take a bit of time to get the chemistry together with such a new group, but he noted that this season’s squad has “tremendous possibilities.”
No. 10 Notre Dame
Head Coach: Niele Ivey (4th season)
2022-23 Record: 27-6, 15-3 ACC (Sweet Sixteen)
Key departures: Lauren Ebo, Dara Mabrey
Notable additions: Anna DeWolfe (Fordham), Hannah Hidalgo (ESPN No. 5 recruit), Emma Risch (ESPN No. 20 recruit)
Key returners: Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld
What to watch for:
Notre Dame is another team with a big question looming over them, the health of star Olivia Miles. Coach Niele Ivey was, as you might expect, pressed on Miles’ status at ACC Tipoff on Tuesday but was noncommittal.
So, we press on. Without Miles, at least for the moment, the Fighting Irish still return their leading and third-leading scorers from last season in Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld. Westbeld was also the team’s second-leading rebounder (behind Miles) and leader in blocks, while Citron trailed only Miles in steals. In each category mentioned, the three players were in the top 10% nationally.
To those returners, who, even without Miles, managed to reach the Sweet 16 last season, Notre Dame adds the No. 5 recruit in the country in Hannah Hidalgo. With Miles out for the moment, it sounds like Hidalgo could get the start at point guard. When Ivey was asked about what she thinks of her team, she stated that she has “an incredible freshman point guard. I have a point guard by committee outside of Hannah Hidalgo…” In addition to comments about Hidalgo’s high basketball IQ, defensive mindset, and ability to score at all three levels, Ivey added: “She does a great job of just kind of being a sponge. She makes everybody better around her.”
While Ivey described Hidalgo as a sponge, she lauded one of the other newcomers to South Bend for her leadership. Graduate transfer Anna DeWolfe, who joins the Irish from Fordham, scored the 34th-most points in the country last year, and leaves the Rams as their third all-time leading scorer. When discussing DeWolfe, Ivey mentioned her leadership/ability to lead three times in less than 30 seconds. Ivey also highlighted DeWolfe’s 3-point shooting as the on-court asset she was most looking forward to, especially with Dara Mabrey’s graduation.
As mentioned above, the Miles-less Irish were able to reach the Sweet 16, and when asked how she feels about the team without her, Ivey said she’s “really optimistic.” It’s hard to disagree too much, given the results of last season and especially if Hidalgo is able to step into that point guard slot and excel.
No. 16 North Carolina
Head Coach: Courtney Banghart (5th season)
2022-23 Record: 22-11, 11-7 ACC (Round of 32)
Key departures: Destiny Adams, Eva Hodgson, Kennedy Todd-Williams
Notable additions: Lexi Donarski (Iowa State), Maria Gakdeng (Boston College), Ciera Toomey (ESPN No. 4 recruit, will redshirt this season), Reniya Kelly (ESPN No. 30 recruit), Rylee Grays (ESPN No. 90 recruit)
Key returners: Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby
What to watch for:
A season after UNC made its first Sweet Sixteen appearance in seven years, head coach Courtney Banghart thinks this is the deepest team she’s had in her five years in Chapel Hill. Banghart adds eight newcomers – five freshmen (two of whom, Laila Hull and Ciera Toomey, will redshirt) and three transfers – to seven returners.
The two most notable returners are the two Tar Heel representatives on the All-ACC preseason team, Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby. Kelly led the team in scoring and assists last year. Kelly credits “being able to play against some of the best players in the country and the league definitely helps you see the game a little differently, watching film and seeing how they score” as helping her become a better scorer. The experience and maturity gained from her first two years helped her figure out when to shoot and when to pass.
As for Ustby, the bigger stat jump was between her first two seasons, where she increased her scoring by three full points per game and went from starting 17 out of 24 games in her freshman season to all the ones she was available for in the past two seasons. Ustby, who views her role as “whatever the team calls for… whatever Coach Banghart asks me to do,” said at Tipoff that she’s been working on a 3-point shot, which is certainly something the Tar Heels could use, as both of their leading 3-point shooters have moved on.
One of the things Ustby has been working on as a co-team captain (with Kelly) is “making sure the girls on my team, 1-15, are seen, they’re valued, and their opinions are heard.” Last season, only one of those players was new to the Tar Heels. This season, it’s eight. “One of the big differences is you’re teaching eight people the way of Carolina basketball, how we want to operate, as opposed to just one, and that presents new challenges in itself” Ustby said, adding that the team has done a lot of team bonding activities and conversations about what they want this team’s culture and goals to be.
Of the three transfer newcomers, two, Lexi Donarski (Iowa State) and Maria Gakdeng (Boston College) averaged double-digit scoring last season. Gakdeng’s 57.8% field-goal percentage ranked 64th nationally. She also ranked in the top 50 in blocks per game and the top 10% in offensive and total rebounds per game. Three-point shooting is one spot the Tar Heels might be looking for help this season, and while Donarski had the worst 3-point shooting season of her career last season, she’s still a threat from distance. Where Donarski will undoubtedly make an immediate impact, though, is on the defensive end. She snagged the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore season and earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team last season.
Banghart is clearly excited about the depth of this squad. While some people might be worried about how playing time will be distributed, Banghart did not seem concerned: “I think it gets figured out inside the lines… So it's never really hard choices coaches have to make, the kids make them inside the lines and we just use film to assess and really analytics to assess who, when and with whom.”
No. 17 Louisville
Head Coach: Jeff Walz (17th season)
2022-23 Record: 26-12, 12-6 ACC (Elite Eight)
Key departures: Chrislyn Carr, Morgan Jones, Mykasa Robinson, Hailey Van Lith
Notable additions: Jayda Curry (Cal), Kiki Jefferson (James Madison), Eylia Love (Georgia Tech), Nina Rickards (Florida), Sydney Taylor (UMass)
Key returners: Olivia Cochran, Merissah Russell
What to watch for:
In Louisville, it’s going to be a season of figuring out how to maintain the standard the Cardinals have set while also integrating eight newcomers into the program. Louisville is returning only one player, Olivia Cochran, who started 20-plus games for the team last season.
The player Jeff Walz is most worried about replacing is Mykasa Robinson, who was “willing to guard 1 through 5, always diving on the floor for a loose ball, getting the extra possession, coming up with the rebound, and does all the work but then average[s] six points.” Walz credits his fan base for giving her “the biggest ovation…for five years just because of how hard she play[ed].”
To the more casual women’s basketball fan, though, the most glaring Cardinal departure is Hailey Van Lith, who led the team in scoring each of the past two seasons before exiting for LSU. Replacing her at the point is Cal transfer Jayda Curry, who led the Pac-12 in scoring last season, the first-ever freshman to do so.
In addition to Curry, Louisville added five other transfers. Of those six, four started 30-plus games at their previous schools: Curry, Kiki Jefferson (James Madison), Nina Rickards (Florida) and Sydney Taylor (UMass)
Further, all five that completed the 2022-23 season at their previous schools averaged double-figure points per game. So while the roster might lack players with Louisville experience, they’re, well, as Cochran said: “I don't want to say old -- but everybody is older,” adding that it’s helpful because “I feel like I really don't have to say as much,” bigger basketball picture-wise. However, Cochran is still making sure to help the newcomers learn “what Louisville stands for, like pushing that and making people want to be tough because we have to teach that…”
What Louisville has stood for recently is Elite Eight trips, five straight to be exact. So, while Walz says “there's going to be some growing pains. There's no question about it,” if he can use the fact the newcomers to the Cardinals aren’t newbies to playing excellent college basketball and get them to mesh into his system, I agree with him that they’ve “got a chance to be good again.”
No. 18 Florida State
Head Coach: Brooke Wyckoff (2nd season, served as interim in 2020-21)
2022-23 Record: 23-10, 12-6 ACC (Round of 64)
Key departures: Erin Howard, Jazmine Massengill, Mariana Valenzuela
Notable additions: Alexis Tucker (UC Santa Barbara),
Key returners: ACC Freshman of the Year Ta’Niya Latson, ACC Most Improved Player Makayla Timpson
What to watch for:
Florida State is one of eight programs to reach each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, something Brooke Wyckoff, a Seminole alumna, calls “the standard at Florida State.” Last season, it was a first-round exit for the Seminoles, due in no small part to the absence of ACC and National Freshman of the Year Ta’Niya Latson, who suffered an injury prior to FSU’s ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest. The good news for Seminoles fans is that Latson is back at full strength and ready to go. The bad news for opponents is that Latson, who led the conference in scoring last year, mentioned “making shots more consistently” as something she worked on in the offseason.
In addition to Latson, FSU, which had the top-scoring offense in the conference (and ninth-highest nationally), also returns ACC Most Improved Player Makayla Timpson and Sara Bejedi, the other two Seminoles to average double-digit points per game last season. To that scoring, they add Alexis Tucker, who averaged 14.9 points per game for UC Santa Barbara last season. On top of her scoring, Timpson led the team in rebounding, ranking in the top 10% nationally in all three rebounds per game categories.
Even with all those impressive statistical rankings, Wyckoff repeatedly pointed to the experience gained from last season, including the 12 conference wins (the most in Tallahassee since 2017-18) as the thing she thinks will be key for the Seminoles this season. When asked specifically about what she’s looking for from Latson, Wyckoff said: “I expect her to take a step, with the experience she has under her belt now, the awareness that she has, of what this feels like, what's coming,” adding that over the summer “She really took it upon herself to become a better defender. That's always the hardest thing your freshman year is taking that step…”
We’ll find out quickly if that experience from last season pays off, as the Seminoles are playing an “intentional[ly]... beef[ed] up” non-conference schedule, including Tennessee at home on Nov. 9, in-state rival Florida on Nov. 17, a possible matchup against Stanford over Thanksgiving break and a neutral-site matchup against UCLA in December.
RV Miami
Head Coach: Katie Meier (19th season)
2022-23 Record: 22-13, 11-7 ACC (Elite Eight)
Key departures: Haley Cavinder, Destiny Harden, Lola Pendande
Notable additions: Shayeann Day-Wilson (Duke), Jaida Patrick (Columbia), Ally Stedman (Pepperdine)
Key returners: Ja’Leah Williams, Jasmyne Roberts
What to watch for:
The Hurricanes are coming off the program’s first-ever trip to the Elite Eight, where they fell to eventual champion LSU. Miami returns six players from last season’s squad, including two starters. One of those, junior Jasmyne Roberts, says the Hurricanes can take what they learned from the run and “carry it into this season, knowing what it takes, having gone there before, knowing the work you have to put in day in and day out, knowing everybody has to have the same goal and the same mindset.”
Of all the returners, Roberts might have the most to pull from those big games last season. She led Miami in scoring in both the Sweet 16 win over Villanova and the loss to the Tigers, and tied for the team lead in rebounds in both games. While the other returning starter, Ja’Leah Williams, certainly has some tangible laurels to rest on from last season, including being the team’s leader in assists When Meier was asked who the “glue player” was for this season, Meier and Roberts both immediately looked over at Williams, who, after saying “is it me?” agreed that it is probably her. “[B]ecause you never know what somebody is going through, so my job every day is just to make somebody smile and to just give them confidence, keep them boosted up and keep them going,” Williams said.
In addition to the two starters, Miami also returns bigs Lazaria Spearman and Kyla Oldacre and guard Lashae Dwyer. Despite not starting, all three appeared in 20-plus games a season ago. Meier said she’s really happy with the freshman-to-sophomore jump Oldacre and Spearman made, noting that “if you look at the history of my program, the 19 years, between your freshman and sophomore year, if you don't make a jump, you just don't make it. They both have made that jump…”
Most notable among Miami’s four transfers, especially for ACC fans, is Duke transfer Shayeann Day-Wilson. After a stellar freshman campaign in Durham, Day-Wilson fell off a bit last season while splitting point guard duties with Vanessa de Jesus. It was Arizona transfer Lemyah Hylton and Columbia transfer Jaida Patrick, though, who Meier said Hurricanes fans would see and are “going to immediately go, ‘oh, yeah, they're Miami players…’” elaborating that the two “are long” and “defend first.”
A season after reaching the program’s first-ever ACC title game in the 2021-22 season, Miami got its first taste of the Elite Eight last season, and will be looking to build on that success. As Meier said, “a season is a journey,” and while “sometimes in [her] system, certainty takes a little while,” Meier has six players already well-versed in that system, and a whole team where, per Roberts, “Everybody on the team is really great at something…” That is a pretty good place to start this season’s journey.
RV Duke
Head Coach: Kara Lawson (4th season)
2022-23 Record: 26-7, 14-4 ACC (Round of 32)
Key departures: Elizabeth Balogun, Shayeann Day-Wilson, Celeste Taylor
Notable additions: Camilla Emsbo (Yale), Taina Mair (Boston College), Jadyn Donovan (ESPN No. 3 recruit), Oluchi Okananwa (ESPN No. 27 recruit), Delaney Thomas (ESPN No. 29 recruit), Jordan Wood (ESPN No. 62 recruit)
Key returners: Kennedy Brown, Reigan Richardson
What to watch for:
Duke had 11 departures after the 2022-23 season, a season in which it reached 20 wins for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Most notable among the departures was 2022-23 ACC Defensive Player of the Year Celeste Taylor, who was also the Blue Devils’ leading scorer. In fact, all three of Duke’s leading scorers from last season are gone. That said, as head coach Kara Lawson put it: “every year's a new year… you don't carry over any wins. It's also good you don't carry over any losses.”
So, looking forward to this season, two of the five returners, Kennedy Brown and Reigan Richardson, were two of the five Blue Devils who started 26-plus games last season. With so much roster turnover, including the addition of four (top-65 recruit) freshmen, it wasn’t surprising to hear Lawson, Brown, and Richardson all talk about how both Brown and Richardson are working hard on leadership, particularly being vocal and not just trying to do it by example.
The on-floor leader in basketball is the point guard. Duke has a returning point guard on the roster, but Vanessa de Jesus is out for the season with a knee injury. The other point guard last season, Shayeann Day-Wilson, departed for Miami. That means the slot will probably go to Boston College transfer Taina Mair, someone who isn’t new to the ACC but is certainly new to Lawson’s program and system.
With so much change, Lawson admitted that “we're still figuring it out in terms of where we can be more effective as a team, how we can be most effective as a team on both ends, where our strengths are.”
Duke is yet another ACC team that will find out early how its newcomers fare under the bright lights, as its non-conference schedule is highlighted by a game at home against South Carolina, a road tilt at Stanford and then a coveted slot as just one of two teams (with Tennessee) that will scrimmage Team USA. Also worth keeping an eye on are back-to-back contests against Florida Gulf Coast and Toledo.
RV NC State
Head Coach: Wes Moore (11th season)
2022-23 Record: 20-12, 9-9 ACC (Round of 64)
Key departures: Jada Boyd, Jakia Brown-Turner, Camille Hobby, Diamond Johnson
Notable additions: Katie Peneueta (Sacramento State), Lizzy Williamson (Southern Utah), Zoe Brooks (ESPN No. 9 recruit), Mallory Collier (ESPN No. 55 recruit), Laci Steele (ESPN No. 56 recruit), Maddie Cox (ESPN No. 71 recruit)
Key returners: ACC Sixth Player of the Year Saniya Rivers, Madison Hayes
What to watch for:
“I like rides, but roller coaster is not one of them.” That’s how Wes Moore described last season, noting that his team was significantly more inconsistent than he’s used to. He later added that “this will be my 35th year as a college head coach. Last year was probably the most challenging…” That about sums up a season in which the Wolfpack defeated national runner-up Iowa in Iowa City by double digits but lost to 16-17 Boston College at home in Reynolds Coliseum.
Last season, NC State had zero freshmen. This season, they have six, something Moore is excited about, saying NC State has “so many freshmen that we think are going to play.” Leading the class is ESPN No. 9 recruit Zoe Brooks, plus three other top-100 recruits.
NC State also adds a pair of impact transfers, one guard and one big. The guard is Katie Peneueta, who comes from Sacramento State and whose 45.5% 3-point percentage ranked 24th nationally. What may be more impressive about Peneueta is that, even as a guard, she blocked 1.4 shots per game, 76th-most nationally. Ahead of Peneueta on that list is Southern Utah transfer Lizzy Williamson, whose 2.3 blocks per game were good enough for 18th. Williamson’s defensive and total rebounds per game were also both top-20 nationally.
To those newcomers, the Wolfpack return 2022-23 ACC Sixth Player of the Year Saniya Rivers, who spent a lot of her time on stage at Tipoff talking about the things she’s been working on improving. Many of those are off-court and involve making the connection between those off-court things and how they may come into play on the court. Rivers pointed out that as a junior, she’s an upperclassman leader for the first time. She said that she’s trying really hard to “make sure that the team bonds off the court so that when we transition on the court, the transition is smooth…” The other returner who came to Charlotte for Tipoff, Madison Hayes, echoed that sentiment, saying that she wants the Wolfpack to be “a team on and off the floor, staying together through wins and losses…”
Similar to a number of their conference brethren, NC State is challenging itself early, facing UConn on Nov. 12. The Wolfpack also have non-conference contests against perennial mid-major power South Florida and 2023 Sweet 16 squad Colorado. Of his heavy-hitting non-conference schedule, Moore said: “it's a challenge, but that's what makes it fun.” We’ll find out fast if the Wolfpack have fixed the inconsistency from last season and are back on track to start a new streak of deep runs into the NCAA Tournament after their streak of four straight Sweet 16 appearances was snapped last season.
Syracuse
Head Coach: Felisha Legette-Jack (currently on a medical absence)
2022-23 Record: 20-13, 9-9 ACC (WNIT Super 16)
Key departures: Teisha Hyman, Dariauna Lewis
Notable additions: Dominique Camp (Akron), Alyssa Latham (ESPN No. 72 recruit)
Key returners: Dyaisha Fair, Georgia Woolley
What to watch for:
Last season, Syracuse welcomed 10 new players. Despite all the newness, the Orange made a run to the Super 16 of the WNIT. That run was facilitated in no small part by Syracuse’s 29th-ranked 40.7 total rebounds per game and 18th-ranked 10.3 steals per game. While the Orange will be looking to replace Dariauna Lewis’ production on the glass, most of those steals are back in the forms of Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley
Fair’s efforts last season earned her slots on last season’s All-ACC First Team and this season’s Preseason All-ACC Team. She did it all for the Orange last season, leading the team in scoring, assists, and steals (a stat she also led the ACC in), while tying for the fewest fouls-per-game on the squad.
In addition to Fair, Syracuse returns seven other players and adds only five new ones, undoubtedly a welcome relief after last season’s near-total roster turnover. Coach Khyreed Carter, who represented the Orange at Tipoff, was proud of how they closed the season, noting wins over Miami and North Carolina near the tail end of the regular season. However, he also pointed out that closing out individual games is something the team needs to work on if they’re going to do better this season, especially in the conference. “You look at our games that we lost in the ACC, we were right there in the fourth quarter,” Carter said. “If you look at them, they outscored us in the fourth quarter. Understanding how to finish a game, how to put a full 40 minutes together against the best teams in the conference [is the next step for the Orange.]”
It was pretty clear, too, that the next step Fair wants the squad to take is to get to the NCAA Tournament, as she called the WNIT “an uncomfortable thing because that's not where I wanted us to be.” At the same time, she knows it’s going to take work “day by day, brick by brick.” Kyra Wood added that “one of our challenges last year was thinking too far ahead and not taking that moment by full storm.” It’s not surprising that such a new team had some growing pains, but if the Orange can take this season’s more experienced roster and fix some of those issues, things are looking up.
Virginia
Head Coach: Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton (2nd season)
2022-23 Record: 15-15, 4-14 ACC
Key departures: Taylor Valladay
Notable additions: Kymora Johnson (No. 24 recruit), Olivia McGhee (ESPN No. 45 recruit)
Key returners: Sam Brunelle, Camryn Taylor, Mir McLean
What to watch for:
Virginia ended their season last year after the ACC Tournament, turning down a WNIT bid due to a lack of healthy players. The good news for Hoos fans is not only are some of the stars they lost mid-season almost back, they’re deeper, thanks to the addition of two ESPN top-50 recruits, a player with international experience and three transfers.
One of the players who was lost to injury midseason, Sam Brunelle, is fighting yet another injury, requiring surgery on her right foot last month after it was her left foot that caused her to miss the second half of last season. When she comes back, Brunelle is hoping to be known as more than just a threat from beyond the arc: “I feel like I'm only respected as a 3-point shooter. I know I'm efficient inside when I choose to be an inside presence…” The other Cavalier returning from a season-ending injury, Mir McLean, was quite the interior stalwart, a position she’ll look to reestablish. When she went down in early January, McLean was the second-leading scorer on the team, the leading rebounder and the third-leading rebounder in the ACC.
Agugua-Hamilton also adds two top-50 recruits, led by Charlottesville native and two-time Virginia Player of the Year Kymora Johnson. Agugua-Hamilton had high praise for Johnson during Tipoff. “She just is a little bit beyond her years,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “Her IQ is very high. She understands things. You don't have to tell her multiple times… She can score, but she understands there's a lot of people around her that can score…”
Collectively, Agugua-Hamilton thinks she “has about nine kids or so that can start. Obviously you can only start five.” That is welcome news for a coach who wants to “play fast, score fast, but also wreak havoc on the defensive end,” something the Cavaliers were not able to do at multiple points last season due to the lack of healthy bodies..
You can’t start much faster than Virginia did last season. The Cavaliers ripped off a 12-0 start in non-conference play, the program’s best start since the 1991-92 season and the first 12-game win streak at any point in a season since 1995. However, injuries and other adversity that Agugua-Hamilton said the media/public don’t know about slowed their roll considerably, as they finished the season 3-15. Brunelle and the Cavaliers know that as a result of the way last season closed, they’ll probably “get overlooked by some at times,” but warns “I think we're going to be the unexpected team that's going to be around, we're going to give you a hard time…”
Clemson
Head Coach: Amanda Butler (6th season)
2022-23 Record: 19-16, 7-11 ACC (WNIT Super 16)
Key departures: Daisha Bradford, Hannah Hank, Brie Perpignan
Notable additions: Maddi Cluse (Miami (OH)), Dayshanette Harris (Pittsburgh), Danielle Rauch (Graduate manager at Clemson/previously played at Michigan)
Key returners: Amari Robinson, Ruby Whitehorn
What to watch for:
Clemson made it to the WNIT Super 16 last season, the first time in Amanda Butler’s tenure that the Tigers have played more than two games in postseason tournaments. Butler liked the experience it gave her team, but also hopes it makes them “hungrier for more.”
The two returning Clemson players whom most opponents will have circled on the scouting report are fifth-year senior Amari Robinson and sophomore Ruby Whitehorn. Whitehorn is coming off an ACC All-Freshman team slot, and says that last season “the athleticism and the level of competition in the ACC” was the biggest thing she had to adjust to after having gotten “used to being the biggest at home….” Of Whitehorn, Butler said she’s “really discovered how much of an impact she can have on the game in so many different ways aside from scoring,” adding that she’s also “continued trying to find her voice as a leader and expanding who she is beyond the stat sheet.”
As a whole, Robinson says that this year’s Clemson squad is more “player-led,” and that “we've definitely had older players [before], but not as many that have been all around and been in the positions, especially leadership roles.” Robinson is the only five-year Tiger on the roster. Butler repeatedly pointed to Robinson’s consistent excellence as the thing she admires about her and wants people to be more aware of. In terms of improvements, Butler points out that before last season Robinson worked hard on “being more vocal and being more demanding. Things that don't necessarily align with her personality naturally…”
Clemson also adds two freshmen and seven upperclassman or graduate transfers. Of the four upperclassman/graduate transfers that both came from four-year institutions and played their previous season of basketball in the 2022-23 season (more on that in a moment), two scored at least 15 points per game, at least 3.2 assists per game and 3.1 rebounds per game. The most unusual incoming transfer, both to Clemson and arguably in the country, is Danielle Rauch, who spent last season on the Tigers’ bench as a graduate manager after completing a four-year playing career at Michigan in 2022. Of Rauch, Robinson says: “Danielle knows the game inside and out. She's able to bring that different perspective from being on the court and being on the sidelines as well…” It certainly sounds like Clemson has the intangible factors they want, we will see if that translates to on-court improvement and an even deeper March run.
Georgia Tech
Head Coach: Nell Fortner (5th season)
2022-23 Record: 13-17 (4-14 ACC)
Key departures: Cameron Swartz
Notable additions: Sydney Johnson (Boston U), Caitlyn Wilson (Cincinnati)
Key returners: Kayla Blackshear, Kara Dunn, Tonie Morgan
What to watch for:
Georgia Tech returns three players that started 20-plus games a season ago, including ACC All-Freshman team member Tonie Morgan. Of Morgan and fellow sophomore Kara Dunn, head coach Nell Fortner says: “we hit a point last year, we weren't performing that well. And I was like, ‘You know what, I'm gonna play my kids that better our future.’ So I did that. And so they really got some good experience…” Morgan earned the All-Freshman slot by dishing out 3.8 assists per game, good for sixth-most in the ACC. Despite her 3.3 turnovers per game being in the bottom 10% nationally, her 1.15 assist-to-turnover ratio was still 10th-best in the ACC. Learning to take care of the ball is something that is often cited as coming with time and experience, and Morgan has some of that now and undoubtedly has gained more over the summer.
I asked nearly all of the now-sophomores at Tipoff what they’d worked on over the summer, and both Morgan and Dunn said they worked on their 3-point shooting. Not quite the answer I expected from a pair of players that shot fewer than 100 threes combined last season. But if one (or both) can add that to their games, it would be a heck of an addition for a team that had the worst 3-point shooting percentage in the ACC last season.
Both of the transfers Fortner brought in should help with Georgia Tech’s lackluster 3-point shooting. Boston University transfer Sydney Johnson shot 40.2% from beyond the arc last season, in the top 10% nationally. Fellow transfer Caitlyn Wilson (Cincinnati) wasn’t quite as prolific, but her 36% mark is still good for top-third nationally and would have ranked second on the Yellow Jackets last season.
While Fortner says her team is “still a little on the young side,” three of Georgia Tech’s four freshmen already have international playing experience. So while they’ll have to adjust to the college game, they’re certainly not as green as some rookies.
Overall, junior Kayla Blackshear noted that “last year we had little small glimpses [of greatness/success] but we never could put two or three games together.” But now they’re looking to “put games together and be consistent throughout the conference and throughout the season in general.” The experience Fortner was able to give her young players should help with that, as should the veteran additions.
Boston College
Head Coach: Joanna Bernabei-McNamee (6th season)
2022-23 Record: 16-17, 5-13 ACC
Key departures: Maria Gakdeng, Taina Mair
Key returners: Dontavia Waggoner, T’Yana Todd, JoJo Lacey
What to watch for:
The most glaring departure from last season’s Boston College team is All-ACC Freshman Team member Taina Mair, who not only ran the floor from the point guard spot for the Eagles, but ranked 10th nationally in assists per game. Replacing her, per head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, will be freshman JaKayla Thompson or redshirt junior Kaylah Ivey, who missed last season due to injury.
While the point guard spot will be a big question mark going into this season, the Eagles return their leader in scoring, steals, and rebounds, Dontavia Waggoner. Waggoner was also the runner-up for last season’s ACC Most Improved Player.
A player Bernabei-McNamee is looking to make a big jump this season is sophomore T’Yana Todd, who averaged 10 points a game last season. If you ask Waggoner and senior guard JoJo Lacey which player is poised to make a jump, though, their answer is “[An]Drea Daley.” Daley was 0.4 points per game shy of the double-digit mark last season and pulled down the third-most rebounds of anyone on the squad. So, if she’s able to make a jump, it could mean quite the improvement for BC.
When asked for a word to describe predictions of the Eagles this season, Waggoner said “underdogs,” but Lacey’s word was “determined.” It sounds like this season’s more-experienced BC team feels like they have something to prove.
Wake Forest
Head Coach: Megan Gebbia (2nd season)
2022-23 Record: 17-17, 5-13 ACC (WNIT 2nd Round)
Key departures: Jewel Spear, Olivia Summiel
Notable additions: Madisyn Jordan (ESPN No. 67 recruit), Rylie Theuerkauf (ESPN No. 85 recruit)
Key returners: Kaia Harrison, Demeara Hinds, Elise Williams
What to watch for:
While the elephant in the room to most observers is the departure of leading scorer and 3-point ace Jewel Spear to Tennessee, Wake Forest returns their second-leading scorer in Elise Williams, who also led the Demon Deacons in assists and steals. In all, Wake Forest returns three of the five players who started 30-plus games for them last season.
When you look at the stats for Wake Forest last season, there’s a lot of green (meaning top-third nationally) in the opponent shooting section of their HHS page. It should come as no surprise, then, that at Tipoff, in addition to coach Megan Gebbia saying she “always look[s] at the defensive side of the ball anyway,” grad student Kaia Harrison repeatedly pointed to her defense as the thing she takes pride in.
Second-year head coach Megan Gebbia led off her press conference at ACC Tipoff with the things her team needs to fix, namely “defensive rebounding, too many turnovers, and we love to foul, apparently.” As for what Wake Forest might be able to do this season, Gebbia was more positive: “I think [we’ll be] dynamic up and down the floor, running maybe a little bit more than we did in the past, because we're playing a four-guard lineup… [and I] do think we have the people in place to have a really good year at [the defensive] end of the floor.”
While leading with the things they need to work on might not be what every player wants to hear, you can’t fix a negative until you’re aware of it. So we’ll see whether that awareness turns into improvement for Wake Forest this season.
Pittsburgh
Head Coach: Tory Verdi (1st season)
2022-23 Record: 10-20 (3-15 ACC)
Key departures: Amber Brown, Dayshanette Harris, Avery Strickland
Notable additions: Jala Jordan (Seton Hall)
Key returners: Liatu King
What to watch for:
Pitt has only four returners from last season’s team that finished well under .500. As you would expect, there was a lot of talk at Tipoff about how new head coach Tory Verdi wants to go about rebuilding both the roster and the program. When asked if this rebuild was going to be done the same way he’d done it so successfully at Eastern Michigan and UMass, he said: “I say each situation is different, and yet you go about rebuilding programs the same way. And the biggest thing is just changing the culture of the programs and really connecting with the players. And that’s the first thing I did… the day of my press conference…” Returner and co-captain Liatu King said she bought in after that first conversation with Verdi, after “seeing what his plans are for me, what his plans were for the women's basketball team as a whole,” while fellow returner and co-captain Marley Washenitz said it was the fact that “Coach is very big on, like, fast and furious type of play” that helped convince her to stick around.
Washenitz added that in addition to her excitement about the increased pace “the players we have this year, we're all pretty on the same page about… want[ing] to play fast, score points.” Verdi said the portal was pretty “picked over” by the time he got the job in April. He did manage to bring in four transfers, plus three freshmen and a junior college player. While bringing in eight newcomers and a whole new coaching staff means a lot of team bonding and learning that has to happen quickly, Verdi says they all have one important thing in common: “They're all competitive and they want to win.” That’s a solid start for year one.
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I hope it works out. I believe what everyone's saying, but watching her at Cal, playing a pure point guard seemed pretty unlikely.
And this is all great info, especially for Cal fans, who will be playing these teams next year.
That is good news, for Jayda and Louisville. (Did Louisville take a trip to Canada this summer?)