ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

7. UVA Cavaliers

Last season: 25-8, 15-5 in the ACC

After finishing this past season as regular season co-champions in the ACC, the Cavaliers find themselves at seventh in the early power rankings. They’ll return just four players from last year’s 25-win squad while adding a mix of Top 100 prospects and transfer portal pieces.

There will be a lot of moving parts for the Cavaliers following a bizarre finish to the NCAA Tournament. UVA fell in the first round of the tournament to the 13-seeded Furman Paladins 68-67 as a 4-seed in the South region as their biggest weakness was exposed. The Cavaliers shot 2-of-12 from 3-point land in an abysmal offensive display.

Now, they’ve added some more dynamic scorers with Jordan Minor (Merrimack), Andrew Rohde (St. Thomas) and Jake Groves (Oklahoma). Dante Harris (Georgetown) will also be available after transferring to the team back in January. That doesn’t mean things on the perimeter are entirely solved, though. Rohde shot 32 percent from deep as the Summit League Rookie of the Year while Harris shot 27.5 percent from deep in his last action with Georgetown back in 2021-22.

Groves will be the X-Factor given his ability at the forward spot. He knocked 38 percent of his 3-point attempts with the Sooners in 2022-23. If he can find his shooting stroke and be a defensive presence for this squad, look for them to compete once again in the ACC.