ACC Basketball: Projecting each team’s key player production for 2021-22
ACC Basketball fielded seven teams in the 2020-21 NCAA Division I Tournament and they did so without the Louisville Cardinals and the Duke Blue Devils being among them. The exclusion of those traditionally successful teams would speak to the strength of the conference, if not for the fact that just Florida State and Syracuse managed to advance past the first round.
The run to the Sweet Sixteen was a great talking point for the ACC last season, this season, however, the continuous narrative will be the final season of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils are just one of fifteen teams in the ACC and while the talk going into the 2021-22 season, will be the effects of Coach K’s departure, this season it is about the players who have departed via the transfer portal.
As Pittsburgh and Wake Forest lost five players to the portal, teams such as Syracuse, Clemson, and Boston College lost four respectively. As no team in the ACC was untouched by the portal, the questions are plenty when it comes to the ACC. The erupt departure of so many familiar faces was just as quickly countered by new ones looking to make their mark in one of the top power conferences in the nation.
Whether it be due to coming from a mid-major, stepping into a starting role, or caused by accepting a supporting role at a bigger school, player production is going to rise as well as fall as all fans hope their new-look team is in a position to improve in the win category.