Head coach Hubert Davis’s squad returns four starters (fifth-year senior Leaky Black, senior Armando Bacot and juniors RJ Davis and Caleb Love) from a year ago, when UNC won 29 games and the NCAA East Regional and played in the national championship game.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for our team’s potential but the only way for us to reach any of our dreams and goals will be to improve each and every day by our commitment to preparing, practicing and playing to the best of our ability,” Davis told the AP.
Duke, in its first season with Jon Scheyer as the head coach, comes in at #7 in the preseason poll.
The Blue Devils have just one rotation player back from last year’s Final Four team, starting point guard Jeremy Roach.
Scheyer, who is replacing the legendary Mike Krzyzewski, has seven freshman and four grad transfers on his roster for 2022-2023.
UVA, in Tony Bennett’s 14th season, is #18 in the preseason poll.
Bennett has his top six scorers back from last year’s 21-14 team that fell short of getting an NCAA Tournament bid, ultimately ending its season with a loss in the third round of the NIT.
Virginia also has the program’s top-rated recruiting class since the 2016 class that formed the backbone of its 2019 national title team.
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Chris Graham
