ACC Basketball: Biggest winners and losers from Week 1 of 2023-24 season

The first week of the 2023-24 season was filled with ups and downs for ACC Basketball. A few teams saw players emerge and breakout into legit stars, while others have starting out the gate slow. There also were big wins, along with some bad losses in the first few days alone.

Here’s a look at who the early “winners” and “losers” were in the ACC a week in.

Winners: Miami Hurricanes

The Miami Hurricanes handled business in the opening week of college basketball. They’ve averaged 94.5 points through their first two victories of the year, posting 101 points in their opening night victory over NJIT.

Senior big man Norchad Omier looks ready to be a lot more effective in his second season in the frontcourt. He’s posted 19.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.5 spg, 2.0 apg and 1.0 bpg on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 50 percent shooting from deep so far through two games.

Sharpshooting guard Wooga Poplar is slowly becoming a popular name with one of the top squads in the ACC. He leads the charge for the Hurricanes with 22.0 ppg on an efficient 71.4 percent shooting from deep. He’s already gone 10-of-14 from the perimeter across their two victories with back-to-back performances of at least five made 3-pointers.

Matthew Cleveland seems to be finding his footing on the wing as well. He posted 14.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.5 apg. 2.0 bpg and 1.5 spg in the rotation as a transfer portal addition out of Florida State. So far, they look the part as an NCAA Tournament squad.