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Pitt Picked Ninth in ACC Preseason Poll

Pitt Panthers forward Blake Hinson was picked to repeat as an All-ACC Second-Team selection.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are not expected to repeat their success from 2022-23 in this coming season. 

The ACC Preseason poll was voted on and released this week by media in attendance at the ACC Tip Off in Charlotte, North Carolina this week and they picked the Panthers to finish ninth in the league and two Pitt players earned consideration for preseason all-conference honors.

This is the highest Pitt has been picked in the ACC Preseason Poll since Jamie Dixon was the head coach. 

Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State and Virginia Tech were all picked to finish ahead of Pitt in that order. Syracuse, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Notre Dame followed the Panthers in that order.

The Panthers lost four of their top five scorers from an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, the program's first postseason berth in seven years. They added some talented transfers in Zack Austin and Ishmael Leggett, plus a top-20 recruiting class, but the roster turnover likely contributes to their middle-of-the-pack ranking. 

The good news for Pitt is that they return forward Blake Hinson, who was named to the preseason All-ACC Second-Team. After leading the Panthers in scoring and rebounding a year ago, Hinson earned all-conference second-team honors. He's just the second Panther to ever earn Preseason All-ACC honors. 

He joins Syracuse's Judah Mintz, Miami's Nijel Pack, Duke's Tyrese Proctor and Boston College's Quinten Post on the second team. Duke's Kyle Filipowski was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year and headlined the first team alongside UNC's Armando Bacot, Clemson's P.J. Hall, Virginia's Reece Beekman and Miami's Norchad Omier. 

Hinson didn't earn any votes for Preseason Player of the Year but Pitt freshman guard Carlton Carrington also earned one vote for ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year. 

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