ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

All eyes will be on first-year head coach Hubert Davis as he looks to fill Roy Williams’ shoes as his successor on the sideline. He’ll return a ton of talent and proved he could bring in talent from the transfer portal as well this offseason as he looks to start off on the right foot.

Dawson Garcia and Brady Manek will certainly add to their size and versatility. Garcia was a full-time starter this past year with Marquette basketball, posting 13.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg as a Big East All-Freshmen selection. He’s an inside-out presence with a ton of upside at 6-foot-11 joining the Tar Heels ranks.

Manek joins as a graduate transfer from Oklahoma with a nice stroke from the perimeter. He shot 37.5 percent from behind the arc and is yet another versatile presence at 6-foot-9 that looks to bring a nice change of pace to the lineup.

Armando Bacot returns after testing the NBA Draft waters and finishing 2020-21 with 12.3 ppg and 7.8 rpg while shooting 62.8 percent from the field during his sophomore year. He’s due for a breakout junior year with ACC Player of the Year implications attached.

With Bacot, Garcia, and Manek in the frontcourt, R.J. Davis and Caleb Love should have no issues finding playmakers on the floor in 2021-22. All pressure is on the Tar Heels at the top spot in the ACC basketball preseason power rankings.