As some of you know, the interview session with head coaches at ACC Kickoff goes on for a good while. BDN brings you part 2 of 4 from Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe. It's worth a listen for their was no tv taping during the session.
Just press play -
GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina led all Atlantic Coast Conference schools with five players selected to the 2010 Preseason All-ACC Football team in voting conducted by the media at the annual ACC Football Kickoff, which was held July 25-26 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.
The Preseason All-ACC team was announced Wednesday.
In all, 20 of the 23 honorees on the team earned first or second-team All-ACC honors last fall, with 16 having been selected to the All-ACC first team. The three remaining players who were voted onto the 2010 preseason team were Honorable Mention All-ACC last year.
North Carolina’s defense, which finished sixth nationally last year in total defense, had all five of the UNC players selected to the preseason All-ACC squad in defensive end Robert Quinn (Ladson, S.C.), defensive tackle Marvin Austin (Washington, D.C.), linebacker Quan Sturdivant (Oakboro, N.C.), cornerback Kendric Burney (Jacksonville, N.C.) and safety Deunta Williams (Jacksonville, N.C.).
Boston College was next with four players chosen in tailback Montel Harris (Jacksonville, Fla.), offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.), offensive guard Thomas Claiborne (Randolph, Mass.) and linebacker Luke Kuechly (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Clemson and Miami each had three players honored, followed by Maryland and Florida State with two and Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State and Virginia Tech with one each.
Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel (Tallahassee, Fla.) garnered the most votes, being named on 48 of the 52 ballots while North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn (47 votes) and Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams (45) were the next highest.
Though Florida State had just two players chosen, they were quarterback Christian Ponder (Colleyville, Tex.), the media pick for ACC Preseason Player of the Year, and offensive guard Rodney Hudson (Mobile, Ala.), who is seeking to become only the seventh player in ACC history--and only the fourth position player--to be selected to the All-ACC Football Team for four consecutive seasons. Hudson was a second-team All-ACC choice as a freshman in 2007 and earned first-team honors in 2008 and 2009.
Miami’s Matt Bosher (Jupiter, Fla.), who earned first-team All-ACC honors as a placekicker and second team as a punter last year, was named to the preseason team at both positions.
Maryland’s Torrey Smith (Colonial Beach, Va.), who set ACC single-season kickoff return yardage records in each of the last two seasons, was also named to the preseason team at two positions—specialist and wide receiver. Smith was a second-team All-ACC choice at both positions last year.
Those who were chosen first-team All-ACC last fall included Robert Quinn, Quan Sturdivant, Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams of North Carolina; Allen Bailey, Matt Bosher and Brandon Harris of Miami; Anthony Castonzo and Luke Kuechly of Boston College; DeAndre McDaniel of Clemson, Donovan Varner of Duke, Rodney Hudson of Florida State, Sean Bedford of Georgia Tech, Alex Wujciak of Maryland, George Bryan of NC State and Ryan Williams of Virginia Tech.
Boston College’s Montel Harris, Clemson’s Chris Hairston, Maryland’s Torrey Smith, Miami’s Matt Bosher and North Carolina’s Marvin Austin were selected to the 2009 All-ACC second team, while Boston College’s Thomas Claiborne, Clemson’s Jarvis Jenkins and Florida State’s Christian Ponder were honorable mention All-ACC last fall.
Ten of the ACC’s 12 teams were represented on the team, and a total of 52 ballots were cast at the Kickoff for the preseason all-conference football team.
2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Team
Offense
Pos. Name (Votes) Ht Wt Class Hometown
WR Donovan Varner, Duke (27) 5-9 170 Junior Miami, Fla.
WR Torrey Smith, Maryland (19) 6-1 200 Junior Colonial Beach, Va.
TE George Bryan, NC State (21) 6-5 265 Junior Castle Hayne, N.C.
T Anthony Castonzo, Boston College (43) 6-7 295 Senior Hawthorn Woods, Ill.
T Chris Hairston, Clemson (21) 6-7 325 Senior Winston-Salem, N.C.
G Rodney Hudson, Florida State (43) 6-2 282 Senior Mobile, Ala.
G Thomas Claiborne, Boston College (21) 6-3 325 Senior Randolph, Mass.
C Sean Bedford, Georgia Tech (25) 6-1 274 Senior Gainesville, Fla.
QB Christian Ponder, Florida State (35) 6-3 227 Senior Colleyville, Tex.
RB Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech (45) 5-10 211 Sophomore Manassas, Va.
RB Montel Harris, Boston College (30) 5-10 200 Junior Jacksonville, Fla.
Defense
Pos. Name (Votes) Ht Wt Class Hometown
DE Robert Quinn, North Carolina (47) 6-5 270 Junior Ladson, S.C.
DE Allen Bailey, Miami (31) 6-4 288 Senior Sapelo, Ga.
DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina (32) 6-3 305 Senior Washington, D.C.
DT Jarvis Jenkins, Clemson (27) 6-4 310 Senior Clemson, S.C.
LB Alex Wujciak, Maryland (34) 6-3 245 Senior West Caldwell, N.J.
LB Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina (32) 6-2 235 Senior Oakboro, N.C.
LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College (25) 6-3 225 Sophomore Cincinnati, Ohio
CB Kendric Burney, North Carolina (27) 5-9 190 Senior Jacksonville, N.C.
CB Brandon Harris, Miami (26) 5-11 195 Junior Miami, Fla.
S DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson (48) 6-1 215 Senior Tallahassee, Fla.
S Deunta Williams, North Carolina (41) 6-2 210 Senior Jacksonville, N.C.
Specialists
Pos. Name (Votes) Ht Wt Class Hometown
PK Matt Bosher, Miami (32) 6-0 205 Senior Jupiter, Fla.
P Matt Bosher, Miami (20) 6-0 205 Senior Jupiter, Fla.
SP Torrey Smith, Maryland (24) 6-1 210 Junior Colonial Beach, Va.
GREENSBORO, N.C. - In years past the Duke Football coach would have very few media members around him during the annual ACC Operation Football event which kicks off the season. Coach David Cutcliffe entertained a throng of reporters who wanted to hear his take on Duke Football which is an obvious sign that times are changing. In a short time, Cutcliffe has brought Duke to a point where they are no longer a game you circle as a sure win. Duke has improved under Cutliffe and fans are hoping he takes another step this coming season. He has some core players in place and he has rebuilt the offensive line since his acceptance of Duke's offer to become the man who will turn around a program. In fact, the ACC writers have picked Duke last for ten straight seasons until this year. If Duke was not in this years toughest division which is akin to the American League East in baseball, who is to say he wouldn't guide them to higher than their projected fifth place finish? We have broken Cutcliffe's comments into three parts. The first part features his opening statement followed by a few questions. Take a listen to what Coach Cut had to say, for I am sure you will enjoy his insight.
Are you ready for some football? You better be for ACC Operation Kickoff got underway in Greensboro, North Carolina. For many fans, the media gathering signals the start of ACC Football season.
The votes are already in for the projected order of finish in the conference and the player of the year and the results will be released at 3:30 today. I went with Florida State in the Atlantic and Virginia Tech in the coastal but it wouldn't surprise me if Georgia Tech, Miami or North Carolina won the Coastal for they are that even. Could all of them go 6-2 in the conference? We'll soon know.
- Electronic media has a huge presence in Greensboro and there are signs that we are in the infancy of a new age of convergence. There will be some trial and error in the effort to merge new and old but in the end it's a necessary progression. But there are concerns and you can bet that the ACC will control who they allow access to for it seems everybody has a team blog these days.
One change is the fact that Duke will no longer print a glossy media guide. That's right collecting purist's, those yearbooks are for now a thing of the past. I'll miss those old black and white glossy guides but there is an upside. Duke has produced the most informative guide in the conference for pure information. No photo's or glitz, just information.
In April, the NCAA passed a law which no longer allows schools to send traditional media guides to prospects or recruits. For many schools, this was an opportunity to show off their program. I doubt that's the reason for Georgia Tech and Maryland's bare bones offerings. [I had a little crow for breakfast for Georgia Tech's offering is here today as is Maryland's]
Maryland produced it's basketball media guide on DVD-R and put out a few pages for football. But as paltry as there information for media is, it's still better than Georgia Tech who provided a few stapled pages from a copier that could use some ink.
North Carolina trimmed their 2011 Media Guide down as did some of the other school but those I have not mentioned were all average or above average in their offerings. Okay, let me get to the point. Media members need hard copies to facilitate their best work.
You see a lot of stuff on PDF files, but have you ever tried to open that during or after a game while still being able to access to your article? The navigation is awkward at best especially for long documents. May the hard copies live forever.
- The Duke Men's Basketball Coaches are winding up their viewing of AAU events this week. Coaches James and Collins are in Orlando for the Showcase and AAU Nationals. As you may have seen in our tweets or updates if you are a member, Kryzyzewski took in Murphy and Muhammad in Las Vegas while juggling his Team USA duties. Lot's to come for members of BDN Premium this week.
- And be sure to tune in to ESPN 3 at 7:00 EST tonight, for Michael Gbinije and Team Takeover will face Each One led by Austin Rivers.
Here is a look at the 2011, 2012 Duke Football schedules -
2011 Duke Football Schedule
Home - Richmond, Stanford, Tulane, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Away - Florida International, Boston College, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia
2012 Duke Football Schedule
Home - Florida International, Memphis, N.C. Central, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia
Away - Stanford, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
GREENSBORO, N.C. - BDN caught up with Duke senior quarterback Chris Rwabukamba during ACC Operation Football and got his thoughts on the coming season, match ups and more in this one on one interview. Rwabukamba is a native of Canada via Rowanda which is a story on to itself and one you will surely read about this coming week. Being Duke's most experienced secondary player, the role of leadership is now in the lap of Rwabukamba.
Press play -
There will be little rest for the Duke staff as this week marks the beginning of a busy time split between the pro's and the nations top prospects. Coach Krzyzewski and Chris Collins will head to Las Vegas to where they'll be joined by Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. The reason is that Team USA is putting together and entirely new roster made up mainly of up and coming players. With no help from the Dream Team, Krzyzewski will seek to form new bonds of chemistry in his on going effort to aid USA Basketball. But the staff will also be out during the last leg of the recruiting trail where three major tournaments start in Las Vegas this week. BDN's Andrew Slater will be on the scene to bring you tidbits as they happen and his unique style has made him a hit with our members. The following week, it will be down to Orlando for the Showcase and AAU Nationals. Needless to say, it's quite the busy time for the men's hoops staff.
It's no secret that some Alabama fans are purchasing season tickets for just one single game in Wallace Wade Stadium on September 18th. Mark my words that this will be the toughest ticket to get in recent memory and rest assured the scalpers are lying in wait for what could be a big pay day. Speaking of season tickets, the numbers are already better this season which is a testament to keeping big games at home. Earlier discussions had the game possibly being played in Birmingham or Atlanta, but Cutcliffe fought to keep the game in Durham, not only for the program, but for the fans
I will head to Greensboro on Sunday for ACC Operation Football which kicks off the 2010-11 season. I've said for a long time now that the four best teams will be in the Coastal Division and it is no fun trying to pick the order in which they will finish. I could make a case for Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech. It'll not be easy to place the Tar Heels who are in the midst of an NCAA investigation yet they return more experience than pretty much anybody in the nation.
Congrats to J.J. Redickwho cashed in with the Orlando Magic who met the Chicago Bull's offer. Same goes for Carlos Boozer who will man the paint in the Windy City this season. And to think, those two could have formeda tandem with Luol Deng.
Lots of buzz for Duke's Michael Gbinije, a class of 2011 commitment. Gbinije enjoyed a solid tournament as he led his Team Takeover team to the Nike EYBL Challenge. This kid has constantly improved from the first time I saw him play three years ago. A voice close to the program said he would play right away with Duke and that he did everything well. I concur.
Just a reminder that our N.C. Pro Am coverage will continue this week where games are played on the campus of N.C. Central University in Durham and admission is free.
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