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Last season, Canes Hoops started their campaign as a top-15 ranked team with a returning force in Bruce Brown Jr, a highly-touted recruiting class featuring Lonnie Walker IV and Chris Lykes, and solid upperclassman leadership with JaQuan Newton and Ebuka Izundu. A rough start to the conference schedule, coupled with a season-ending injury to Bruce Brown Jr and the preseason expectations for the Canes were quickly out of alignment with the product on the court.
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Now, both Lonnie Walker IV and Bruce Brown Jr left for the draft, Jaquan Newton has exhausted his eligibility, and an FBI investigation that loomed over the program made it nearly impossible to bring in recruits, leading to the Canes pulling in 3 transfers instead. The team will look very different, but the ACC will also look different as a whole. A week ago, Jeff Borzello of ESPN wrote a ACC preview piece ahead of Duke’s Toronto preseason trip. The Blue Devils replaced nearly their entire starting lineup with top 10 recruits, and were ranked at the top of ESPN’s Preseason ACC Power Rankings. They were followed by North Carolina, and last year’s conference champ Virginia, Miami was ranked 11th out of the 15 teams. Considering the Canes finished 3rd in the ACC last season, 11th is a far distance to fall. I had a hard time believing that this year’s Canes were that much worse than last year’s team, but honestly there are so many questions surrounding this team that it’s hard to pinpoint where I really expect the team to finish at this point. So let’s see what all of you think about the team 3 months before the season. Vote in the polls below and make your voice heard!
Poll
How many wins will Canes Hoops have in 2018-19?
This poll is closed
-
3%
30 or more
(6 votes) -
15%
25-29
(27 votes) -
64%
20-24
(109 votes) -
16%
15-19
(28 votes) -
0%
Less than 15
(0 votes)
Poll
How far will the Canes advance in the ACC Tournament?
This poll is closed
-
14%
First Round
(21 votes) -
38%
Second Round
(57 votes) -
27%
Quarterfinals
(40 votes) -
13%
Semi Finals
(20 votes) -
2%
Finals
(4 votes) -
4%
Champs
(6 votes)
Poll
How will the Canes fare in the NCAA Tournament?
This poll is closed
-
5%
Elite Eight or further
(8 votes) -
16%
Sweet 16
(24 votes) -
39%
Second Round
(57 votes) -
22%
First Round
(33 votes) -
16%
No trip to the big dance
(24 votes)
Poll
Who will be the Canes leading scorer in 2018-19?
This poll is closed
-
33%
Chris Lykes
(48 votes) -
33%
Dewan Huell
(47 votes) -
3%
DJ Vasilijevic
(5 votes) -
21%
Zach Johnson
(30 votes) -
4%
Anthony Mack
(6 votes) -
4%
Someone Else
(6 votes)
Poll
Who will be the most improved player on the roster this season?
This poll is closed
-
24%
Chris Lykes
(35 votes) -
20%
Dewan Huell
(29 votes) -
4%
DJ Vasilijevic
(7 votes) -
34%
Sam Waardenburg
(48 votes) -
14%
Ebuka Izundu
(21 votes) -
0%
Someone Else
(1 vote)
We’ll revisit the results in a couple weeks and examine the temperature of the program.