ACC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2022-23 season

Mar 27, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels pose for a photo after the Tar Heels defeated the St. Peters Peacocks in the finals of the East regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

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ACC Basketball Isaiah Wong Kameron McGusty Miami Hurricanes (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

5. Miami Hurricanes

The Hurricanes were 20 minutes away from a Final Four appearance in March as a double-digit seed, led by one of the best perimeter trios in college basketball. Two of the three are now gone in leading scorer Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore but Isaiah Wong (15.3 ppg) is back for one more year.

Wong will be joined by Nijel Pack, one of the best guard transfer pickups this offseason. At Kansas State this past season, the 6’0 point guard averaged a team-leading 17.7 ppg and 2.2 apg while shooting 44% from three-point range. He and Wong will be a fantastic offensive duo but Pack is more of a scorer than a facilitator, such as former Miami guard Chris Lykes and that didn’t go well for the team when he was around.

Far as the replacement for McGusty goes, that’ll be a collective project. The team has several guards returning that are looking for more playing time (Bensley Joseph, Jakai Robinson, Nisine Poplar, Harlon Beverly), along with a top-25 incoming recruiting class that features four-star combo guard AJ Casey.

Far as the frontcourt goes, Jordan Miller is back after averaging 10.0 ppg under the radar. And to replace Sam Waardenburg inside is Norchad Omier, the Sun Belt Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 17.9 ppg and 12.2 rpg at Arkansas State and is one of the top transfers in the frontcourt this offseason. The question is whether his frame at 6’7 and 230 pounds and lack of shooting outside the paint will help Omier translate to the ACC level.

There’s a lot of talent on paper for Miami and Coach Jim Larranaga should be trusted to make it work. But the losses of McGusty and Moore are a lot so it shouldn’t be expected that it’ll be an easy transition for them early on.