Miami basketball picked fourth in ACC, Wong Preseason first team ACC

The Miami basketball team is in the ACC preseason poll and fourth-year junior guard Isaiah Wong was named first-team preseason all-conference. Miami earned two first-place votes and had 1,138 points in the poll. In addition to being named preseason All-ACC, Wong came in second for preseason ACC Player of the Year.

North Carolina is the favorite to win the ACC with Duke second and Virginia third. The  Miami basketball team had one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2021-22. Miami finished 26-11 overall, 14-6 in the ACC and advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinal and NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Final.

The NCAA Tournament quarterfinal run was the deepest in Miami’s history. Wong is one of two returning starters for Miami with Jordan Miller. Wong leads Miami returnees at 15.3 points per game and 2.0 assists and added 4.3 rebounds in 2021-22. Miller leads Miami returnees at 5.9 RPG and averaged 10.0 PPG and 1.1 APG.

North Carolina center Armando Bacot was chosen as the ACC preseason Player of the Year with  82 votes and Wong had five in second. Wong also finished second in the voting for preseason all-ACC with 81 votes. Bacot led all voters on the preseason All-team team with 100. Miami is one of four teams with a preseason all-ACC player.

In addition to Bacot and Wong, North Carolina guard Caleb Love received 58 points on the preseason All-ACC team, North Carolina State guard Terquavion Smith had 46 and Duke guard  Jeremy Roach 35. Expect Miami post Norchad Omier and guard Nijel Pack to push for All-ACC recognition at the end of the season.

Omier was Sun Belt Player of the Year and Defensive POY for Arkansas State in 2021-22. In 2020-21, Omier was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Pack earned first-team All-Big XII in 2021-22. Omier averaged 17.9 PPG, 12.2 RPG and shot 63.2 percent from the field. Pack averaged 17.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.2 APG.

Pack shot 41.8 percent from the floor, made 40.5 percent of his three-point attempts and 84.5 percent of his free throws. Omier provides Miami with the low post scorer and voracious rebounder they did not have last year. Pack is an elite combo guard who has three 30-point games in his career and 10 20-point games.

Miami begins the 2022-23 season with an exhibition game versus Indiana University of Pennsylvania on October 30 at the Watsco Center. Miami hosts Lafayette in the season opener on October 7. Miami begins ACC play on December 4 at Louisville. Miami’s first ACC home game is December 20 versus Virginia.