ACC WBB – Louisville tops preseason polls, NC State and Syracuse close behind

Cardinals guard Dana Evans selected preseason ACC Player of the Year

TheACC.com

 

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Louisville was selected as the 2020-21 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball preseason favorite, according to separate polls of the league’s 15 head coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel as announced on Tuesday.

The Cardinals received 45 of 57 first-place votes from the Blue Ribbon Panel for a total of 840 points and 13 of 15 first-place votes from the head coaches to finish with 223 points to lead the voting.

Louisville was chosen as the preseason favorite for the second consecutive season, after winning the regular-season title in 2019-20 to earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.

NC State, the 2020 ACC Tournament Champion, received the remaining two first-place votes in the head coaches’ poll and 10 from the Blue Ribbon Panel to finish second in both with 210 and 797 points, respectively.

Syracuse was third in both polls, collecting two first-place votes from the Blue Ribbon Panel.

Head Coaches & Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason Player of the Year
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G
Head Coaches Preseason All-ACC Team
Taylor Soule, Boston College, Jr., F
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G (12 Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Janelle Bailey, North Carolina, Sr., C
Jakia Brown-Turner, NC State So., G
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Jr., C (3)
Kiara Lewis, Syracuse, Sr., G
Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse, Gr., G
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, So., C
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Sr., G
Ivana Raca, Wake Forest, Sr., F
Head Coaches Newcomer Watch List
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, Fr., G
Kianna Smith, Louisville, Jr., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, Fr., G
Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame, Fr., F
Kamilla Cardoso, Syracuse, Fr., C
Head Coaches Predicted Order of Finish
Louisville (13 first-place votes) – 223
NC State (2) – 210
Syracuse – 193
North Carolina – 157
Georgia Tech – 146
Notre Dame – 138
Virginia Tech – 125
Florida State – 124
Boston College – 120
Miami – 99
Duke – 74
Wake Forest – 73
Clemson – 56
Pittsburgh – 37
Virginia – 25
Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason All-ACC Team (57 voters)
Taylor Soule, Boston College, Jr., F (3)
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G (40)
Janelle Bailey, North Carolina, Sr., C
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Jr., C (11)
Sam Brunelle, Notre Dame, So., F
Kiara Lewis, Syracuse, Sr., G
Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse, Gr., G (3)
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, So., C
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Sr., G
Ivana Raca, Wake Forest, Sr., F
() Indicates preseason player of the year votes
Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List
Tiana England, Florida State, Gr., G
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, Fr., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, Fr., G
Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame, Fr., F
Kamilla Cardoso, Syracuse, Fr., C
Blue Ribbon Panel Predicted Order of Finish (57 voters)
Louisville (45 first-place votes) – 840 points
NC State (10) – 797 points
Syracuse (2) – 724 points
Notre Dame – 555 points
North Carolina – 547 points
Florida State – 516 points
Virginia Tech – 482 points
Boston College – 468 points
Georgia Tech – 452 points
Duke – 385 points
Miami – 359 points
Wake Forest – 258 points
Clemson – 183 points
Virginia – 149 points
Pitt – 125 points
() Indicates first-place votes