Check out this excellent new video of Coach K going in-depth on the team. https://youtu.be/_uiYjT4jYBo

DURHAM – The Duke men's basketball team was selected as the favorite to win the 2021-22 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, as chosen by media members at the ACC Tipoff.

Picked as the preseason ACC favorite for the seventh time in the last nine years, the Blue Devils received 47 first-place votes and 1,132 points overall in the media poll. Duke leads Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech atop the preseason poll.

Paolo Banchero swept the individual preseason awards, as the newcomer from Seattle, Wash., was tapped both the Preseason Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year while landing on the Preseason All-ACC First Team. Banchero becomes the conference's first player to sweep both Preseason Player and Freshman of the Year accolades since at least 2000.

Junior Wendell Moore Jr., and sophomore Mark Williams each earned a spot on the Preseason All-ACC Second Team, while Trevor Keels was second behind Banchero in Preseason Freshman of the Year voting.

A 6-10 forward, Banchero enters his freshman season as the No. 3 player in ESPN 100's rankings for the class of 2021. He averaged 22.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game in his junior campaign at O'Dea High School, winning the Washington Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year award. Banchero participated in the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team minicamp in July of 2019.

Banchero garnered 28 votes for Preseason Player of the Year, with Virginia Tech's Keve Aluma second with 16 votes.

Moore heads into his junior season having started 29 of 49 games at Duke over the past two years. The Charlotte, N.C., native has averaged 8.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his career and is a two-time All-ACC Academic Team selection. In the final 19 games of the 2020-21 season, he increased his scoring average to 11.2 points per game while shooting .454 from the field. Moore additionally received three votes on the Preseason Player of the Year ballot.

Williams tallied two votes for Preseason Player of the Year and looks to carry the momentum from a strong finish to his freshman season. He was a second-team All-ACC Tournament selection after averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 boards and shooting 15-of-21 (.714) over the Blue Devils' two wins in Greensboro in March. Over the final 14 games of last season, Williams led the team in rebounds (6.1), field goal percentage (.684) and blocked shots (28) while ranking fifth in scoring (10.8) in that stretch.

Duke opens the 2021-22 season Tuesday, Nov. 9 versus Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in the State Farm Champions Classic.

ACC Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Duke (47), 1132
2. Florida State (14), 1034
3. North Carolina (5), 1001
4. Virginia (9), 949
5. Virginia Tech (5), 857
6. Louisville (1), 791
7. Syracuse, 781
8. Notre Dame, 599
9. NC State, 555
10. Georgia Tech, 524
11. Clemson, 430
12. Miami, 428
13. Wake Forest, 274
14. Pitt, 253
15. Boston College, 112

Preseason All-ACC First Team
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 68
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 52
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 49
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 46
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 37

Preseason All-ACC Second Team
Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech, 25
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 23
Prentiss Hubb, Notre Dame, 17
Mark Williams, Duke, 12
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 9
Malik Williams, Louisville, 9
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 9

Preseason ACC Player of the Year
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 28
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 16
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 13
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 12
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 5
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 3
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 2
Mark Williams, Duke, 2

Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 64
Trevor Keels, Duke, 5
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 3
Dontrez Styles, North Carolina, 3
Igor Milicic Jr., Virginia, 3
Wooga Poplar, Miami, 1
Benny Williams, Syracuse, 1
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest, 1

DURHAM –Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Monday that senior Joey Baker and junior Wendell Moore Jr., will serve as the team's captains for the 2021-22 season.

Baker and Moore were elected to lead the Blue Devils via a player vote and both will serve as captains for the first time in their respective careers. The pair are two of Duke's six returnees from last season's team.

"This is such a tremendous and well-deserved honor for Joey and Wendell," said Krzyzewski. "Our team could not have selected two more worthy captains, who are each great leaders in their own way. Wendell and Joey are hardworking, selfless, and humble and set a daily example with how beautifully they represent our program. Our team is in great hands as we prepare for this season."

Baker enters the 2021-22 campaign as the lone senior on Duke's roster. The sharpshooting forward from Fayetteville, N.C., has appeared in 54 career games with four starts, posting an average of 3.9 points per contest on .371 field goal shooting, .363 three-point shooting and .850 free throw shooting.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Moore has started 29 of 49 games over the past two seasons, averaging 8.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists. In the final 19 games of the 2020-21 season, he increased his scoring average to 11.2 points per game while shooting .454 from the field. Off the court, the Visual and Media Studies major has been named to the All-ACC Academic Team in each of the past two years.

Baker and Moore will join Coach K at the 2021 ACC Basketball Tipoff on Tuesday, Oct. 12 in Charlotte. Duke opens the 2021-22 season Tuesday, Nov. 9 versus Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in the State Farm Champions Classic.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today its updated 2021-22 COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy.
The COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy, which was approved by the league’s athletics directors, now applies to men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling in addition to previously announced sports of football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.
2021-22 ACC COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy
In the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, and wrestling:

1. If a 2021-22 ACC game cannot be played on its originally scheduled date by a team unable to play due to an insufficient number of available players related to COVID-19, that team shall be deemed to have forfeited, with a loss assigned to the team unable to play and a win assigned to its scheduled opponent, with both the loss and win, respectively, applied to the conference standings.
2. If a 2021-22 ACC game cannot be played on its originally scheduled date due to any factor(s) directly associated with a Game Discontinuation Consideration as listed in the current ACC Medical Advisory Group (MAG) Report, the Conference’s sport rescheduling policy shall apply.
3. If a 2021-22 ACC game cannot be played on its originally scheduled date due to both teams being unable to play due to an insufficient number of available players related to COVID-19, both teams shall be deemed to have forfeited, with a loss assigned to both teams and applied to the conference standings.

As was previously announced, the ACC MAG report includes accommodations for vaccinated individuals and institutional discretion to relax mitigation strategies based on team vaccination rate. The ACC has adhered to the guidelines put forward by the MAG, which has met frequently since May 14, 2020, to share information related to the impact of COVID-19 on college campuses and the return of college sports.
The MAG is comprised of an individual from each member institution and includes a cross-section of infectious disease experts, public health experts, campus student health experts, team physicians, athletic health care administrators and a mental health expert.