North Carolina Favored in 2008-09 Pre-Season Poll by ACC Media
League's coaches and players meet with the media on Sunday, October 26.
North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough was the unanimous 2008-09 ACC Preseason Player of the Year

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough was the unanimous 2008-09 ACC Preseason Player of the Year

Oct. 26, 2008

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    • ATLANTA, GA – For a second-straight year North Carolina was a unanimous choice to finish first atop the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball race in voting by 40 media members at the league’s annual Basketball Media Day.

    Duke was picked for second, while Wake Forest was voted third. Miami was fourth, followed by Clemson (fifth) and Virginia Tech (sixth).

    The Tar Heels are led by pre-season ACC Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough a 6-9, 250-pound senior forward from Poplar Bluff, Mo., averaged 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds last season while earning first-team All-America honors for a third-straight year and consensus National Player of the Year honors.

    Wake Forest Al-Farouq Aminu was the media’s choice for the ACC pre-season Rookie of the Year. Aminu, a 6-9, 215-pound freshman from Norcross, Ga., garnered 18 first-place votes, out-distancing Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg in the voting.

    Hansbrough and Boston College’s Tyrese Rice were unanimous selections for the pre-season All-ACC team. Also named to the pre-season time were Miami’s Jack McClinton, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson and Gerald Henderson from Duke.

    2008-09 Predicted Order of Finish
    1. North Carolina (40) 480
    2. Duke 436
    3. Wake Forest 354
    4. Miami 344
    5. Clemson 306
    6. Virginia Tech 298
    7. Maryland 192
    8. Georgia Tech 186
    9. NC State 179
    10. Florida State 145
    11. Boston College 123
    12. Virginia 79
    First Place Votes in Parentheses

    2008-09 ACC Preseason All-Conference Team
    Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina*
    Tyrese Rice, Boston College*
    Jack McClinton, Miami
    Ty Lawson, North Carolina
    Gerald Henderson, Duke
    * - unanimous selection

    2008-09 Preseason ACC Player of the Year
    Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina*
     
    2008-09 Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
    Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
    * - unanimous selection