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North Carolina preseason pick to win ACC championship

Roy Williams

Roy Williams

AP

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) North Carolina is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels return one of their most-experienced lineups in seven seasons,

The Tar Heels received 60 of 89 first-place votes from media members at Wednesday’s ACC media day, leading two-time regular-season champion Virginia and defending NCAA Tournament champion Duke. North Carolina returns four starters and nine of its 10 leading scorers from last year’s team, which finished 26-12.

North Carolina’s Marcus Paige and Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon shared preseason player of the year honors. Duke freshman Brandon Ingram was named the league’s preseason rookie of the year, and was also picked for the preseason all-ACC team along with Paige and Brogdon.

The rest of the all-conference team picks were Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson.