ACC Basketball: Analyzing each team’s returning impact players for 2023-24

Miami

Miami is coming off of the best season in program history, and they’re doing this after losing both of their top two scorers. After losing to Uconn in the Final Four the losses have continued for Miami as they lost the ACC Player of the Year in Isaiah Wong and a do-it-all forward in Jordan Miller. These losses are significant enough that it would be irresponsible not to note them when talking about this team but there is still light at the end of the tunnel for the Hurricanes. This light comes in the form of their other three starters. Wooga Poplar, Norchad Omier, and Nijel Pack.

Poplar will be entering his third season for the Hurricanes after he was able to make a jump into the starting spot this past season where he started in 36 of 37 games played. Now with Isaiah Wong gone we can expect Poplar to get an increased usage as one of two wing starters returning for the team. While Poplar may not be the best player returning for this Hurricanes team, fans should be able to expect him to put up double digits scoring in this upcoming season and do so efficiently.

What Norchad Omier gave to Miami as a player this past year cannot be overstated. He came in as a transfer from Arkansas State and made an immediate impact on the dynamic of the Hurricanes team. He took a slight hit in his statistics while making the jumbo from Mid-Major to Power 5, but the emphasis in that sentence is on the word slight. He came in and showed that with his talent he can play basketball at any level with his abilities to both score and rebound. Omier may be a bit shorter than a lot of other forwards in the ACC, but his muscular build and strength allow him to bully small defenders around the rim, and use his positioning to gather rebound after rebound.

Nijel Pack was the other big impact first-year transfer that Coach Laranaga was able to land prior to the 2022-23 season. In his first three years playing College Basketball, Pack has shown that he was one of the best true shooters in all of college basketball. With three seasons under his belt, he has now averaged at least 12 points per game each year while also shooting over 40% from the line in each season. Now Coach Laranaga will be able to center an offense around Pack’s ability to extend the floor with his shooting and pair this with the dominant force inside that Norchad Omier has proven to be.

Overall, as always the ACC is set to impress. It’s been one of the best conferences in basketball for many decades, and that is not set to change any time soon. Some of the best players in all of college basketball are making their way back to the ACC, which will keep this fantastic conference among the most important to keep your eye on come March.