ACC Basketball: Top 5 storylines for 2016-17 season
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How good will the Duke Blue Devils be this season?
As previously stated, Duke has the No. 2 ranked 2016 recruiting class in the nation. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski brought in six blue chips recruits who could help lead his Blue Devils back to the mountaintop of college basketball.
Duke is the early favorite to win the ACC championship and the NCAA championship this season. During the ACC media day, junior guard Grayson Allen was predicted to be this season’s ACC Player of the year along with being a member of the first-team all-ACC team.
Duke’s projected starting lineup looks like this:
- Frank Jackson (point guard)
- Grayson Allen (shooting guard)
- Jayson Tatum (small forward)
- Harry Giles, Jr. (power forward)
- Amile Jefferson (center)
The Blue Devils’ bench will consist of several players who could start elsewhere (Matt Jones, Luke Kennard, Marques Bolden, Chase Jeter).
Don’t expect Duke to lose a lot of games this season. If they go undefeated, I would not be surprised. However, keep in mind they have to play the Tar Heels at least two times this season. The Blue Devils may have the best team in college basketball this season, but several other teams (Kansas, Arizona, UNC, Kentucky, N.C. State, Villanova, Virginia, Oregon, Xavier, Indiana) will have something to say about that.