Duke was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2026-27 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, following a vote of a select media panel. The Blue Devils are the preseason ACC favorites for the third straight year and the 11th time in the last 14 seasons.
The media panelists selected Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, while Duke’s Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje was chosen as ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year. De Ridder is Virginia’s first ACC Preseason Player of the Year honoree since Malcolm Brogdon ahead of the 2015-16 season.
Duke picked up 45 of the 48 first-place votes, accumulating 861 total points. Virginia, Louisville and Miami each claimed a first-place vote and finished second through fourth, respectively in the preseason poll. North Carolina rounded out the top five.
De Ridder was the lone unanimous choice for the Preseason All-ACC Team and was joined on the first team by Louisville’s Flory Bidunga, Miami’s Sheldon Henderson and the Duke duo of John Blackwell and Patrick Ngongba II. Bidunga was a First-Team All-Big XII selection and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year while playing at Kansas last year. Blackwell earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors at Wisconsin last season.
The second team featured Boumtje Boumtje, Louisville’s Jackson Shelstad, Miami’s Malik Reneau, Virginia’s Chance Mallory and Virginia Tech’s Amani Hansberry. Reneau was a First-Team All-ACC pick for the Hurricanes in 2026, while Shelstad earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors at Oregon in 2025.
A 2026 First-Team All-ACC Selection, De Ridder averaged 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 36 games last year in his first year of college basketball while leading the Cavaliers to a second-place finish in the ACC and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-9, 238-pound forward from Brasschaat, Belgium, shot 50.8 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range last season. He reached double figures in 28 games, including 12 20-point efforts. De Ridder ranked 16th in the ACC in scoring, ninth in field goal percentage and 17th in rebounding. In addition to his All-ACC honors, he was selected to the ACC All-Rookie Team, NABC All-District East First Team and ACC All-Tournament Second Team.
A 7-foot-2, 250-pound forward/center from Oviedo, Florida, Boumtje Boumtje was rated as a five-star prospect by both 247Sports and ESPN. He received a 98 rating from 247Sports and a 95 grade from ESPN and was ranked No. 54 overall in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Boumtje Boumtje was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2026 adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals (May 21-24) after averaging 19.0 points on 67.9% from two-point range and 47.4% for three-pointers, while also contributing 7.5 rebounds in leading U18 FC Barcelona to the championship. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player at the 2026 FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup in Istanbul (June 27-July 5), helping the 2026 USA Men’s U17 National Team win gold, starting all seven games and averaging a team-best 19.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.
The 74th season of ACC men’s basketball begins on Sunday, November 1, as Notre Dame plays Villanova in Rome, Italy. Thirteen teams open their seasons on November 2, while the remaining four kick off the season on November 3. League play commences on Tuesday, December 29.
2026 ACC Preseason Poll
School, Points
1. Duke (45), 861
2. Virginia (1), 778
3. Louisville (1), 758
4. Miami (1), 753
5. North Carolina, 658
6. Clemson, 623
7. Florida State, 519
8. NC State, 502
9. Virginia Tech, 489
10. SMU, 443
11. Syracuse, 353
12. Pitt, 323
13. Stanford, 267
14. Wake Forest, 234
15. California, 225
16. Notre Dame, 153
17. Boston College, 150
18. Georgia Tech, 119
First-place votes in parentheses; 48 total voters
2026-27 Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
Name, School, Votes
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 48
Flory Bidunga, Louisville, 47
John Blackwell, Duke, 44
Shelton Henderson, Miami, 44
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 42
Second Team
Malik Reneau, Miami, 30
Jackson Shelstad, Louisville, 24
Chance Mallory, Virginia, 23
Amani Hansberry, Virginia Tech, 21
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, Duke, 21
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 30 votes
John Blackwell, Duke, 12
Flory Bidunga, Louisville, 3
Malik Reneau, Miami, 2
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, Duke, 1
Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, Duke, 34 votes
Caleb Gaskins, Miami, 5
Cameron Williams, Duke, 4
Maximo Adams, North Carolina, 3
Harris Reynolds, Clemson, 1
Deron Rippey, Duke, 1
