Nijel Pack Earns Preseason All-ACC Honors While Miami Picked To Finish Sixth In ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Tuesday night University of Miami men’s basketball guard Nijel Pack was named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team. This is the first such honor for Pack, who was a Preseason All-ACC Second Team honoree last season.
Pack averaged 13.3 points, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 2023-24, starting all 25 games played.
The Hurricanes have now placed a player on the Preseason All-ACC First Team in each of the last five seasons (Pack – 2024, Norchad Omier – 2023, Isaiah Wong – 2022 and 2021, Chris Lykes – 2020). The Canes are one of only three ACC teams to accomplish the feat. Duke and North Carolina are the other two.
Miami was projected by the credentialed ACC media to finish sixth out of the 18 teams in the conference this season. The Hurricanes signed the No. 7 recruiting class in the nation last November and added talent and depth this offseason via the transfer portal. This should prove to be an exciting season in Coral Gables.
Preseason ACC Poll (54 total voters)
First-place votes in parentheses
1. Duke (42), 956
2. UNC (11), 924
3. Wake Forest (1), 800
4. Clemson, 765
5. Virginia, 743
6. Miami, 659
7. Pitt, 636
8. NC State, 550
9. Louisville, 518
10. Notre Dame, 462
11. Syracuse, 454
12. Georgia Tech, 433
13. SMU, 344
14. Virginia Tech, 252
15. Florida State, 251
16. California, 206
17. Stanford, 165
18. Boston College, 116
Preseason ACC Player of the Year
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 40 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 10
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 3
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 1
Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 53 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 1
Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
RJ Davis*, North Carolina, 54
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 52
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 52
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 41
Nijel Pack, Miami, 37
Second Team
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 36
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 31
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 26
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 21
Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 20
*denotes unanimous selection
Scott Salomon joined On SI in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins site, and has since contributed to the Miami Heat, Back in the Day NBA, Miami Hurricanes and San Antonio Spurs sites. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. He's covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services.