Tonight at U-Hall, the Virginia men's basketball team will start the season off in an exhibition game against the Australian All-Stars. By the end of next week, most ACC teams will be preparing to start a season, which, unlike all years in recent memory, does not have a clear favorite.
Instead, each ACC team is battling its way up to the top.
Each team has its own story to tell - about its recruits, its hardships and its motivation. Each team also is looking at this season as a way to redefine itself and hopefully end up hoisting the Conference trophy in Charlotte next March.
This is our attempt to bring those teams and their stories to you.
Through interviews with ACC players and coaches conducted during several press conferences last month, we have compiled what we feel is the definitive guide to this year's ACC basketball season.
But unlike most hoops guides, this one isn't about statistics or past records. This is about trying to let you know more on the players and the teams that make up the Conference, and more specifically, the Virginia basketball team.
Those of you who watched the Cavaliers last year already learned that Coach Pete Gillen is a character. You've already heard his comments that brought hope to the Cavs this season.
But you may not have learned about what type of a person Colin Ducharme or Donald Hand or Tom Herrion is. How much do you know about Keith Friel? Or the first years?
This is what we're giving to you.
We hope that it will be informative, interesting and enjoyable for you and we also hope that it may put the basketball teams of the ACC in a new light.
This is not the season where Elton Brand or Steve Francis will dominate the Conference. This season is more about team effort than individual players - and we can't wait for it to begin.
But before the season and this supplement officially begin, we need to thank several people without whom this project wouldn't be possible.
Sports Associate Editors: Isaac Gradman, Sam Le, Jon Prober, Jim Reedy, Brian Smith and Jed Williams. Thanks for all your help and input on putting this project together. A special thanks to Jim and Jed for making the trek down to Greensboro for Operation Basketball, the annual preseason media conference.
Sports Writers: Ashley Stanley, Bethany Dick, Omar Garriot, Scott Clayton, Chip Knighton, Chris Yeung, Kris Wright and David Semler. Thanks for your excellent stories and for dealing with our deadlines.
Photo Department: Thanks to Jenny Robinson, Jonathon Kwon and Tengku Bahar for digging up all those photos. A special thanks to Jenny for taking the cover photo, even with Mac McDonald trying to distract her subjects at the time.
A belated thank you also goes out to Associate Editor Katie Underwood for taking those pictures of the Wahoo Wackos, even if they didn't turn out.
Production Editors: Brian Haluska, Janelle Holt and Phil Wickizer. We know 20 pages isn't easy, especially when the layout changes as much as ours did. Thank you for not firebombing our desk.
Assistant Managing Editors: Katie Lane and D.J. Moore. Thanks for reading all 21 stories. Couldn't have done it without you.
Arts & Entertainment Editors: Thanks to Michael Gillespie for taking the time to write all those headlines while Moorehouse frantically finished his stories for this issue, and to Ben Nuckols for cranking out all those corrects Monday night.
Managing Board: Mike Greenwald, Emily Kane, Masha Herbst, Dan Cooper and Sonia Karim. Thanks for all of your help and your support, and agreeing to let us make this extremely ambitious idea a reality.
Finally, thanks to you for reading this. We hope you enjoy the first ACC Basketball Season Preview Supplement and that the supplement sticks around for many years to come.
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