Oct. 24, 2005

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The University of Maryland basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the 2005 ACC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the media Sunday at the league's 44th Annual Operation Basketball Day at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center. Duke was the unanimous choice to capture the 2005-06 ACC regular-season title receiving all 87 first-place votes. Boston College was picked to finish second, followed by Wake Forest and North Carolina State.

Head coach Gary Williams and Terp seniors Nik Caner-Medley (Portland, Maine) and Chris McCray (Capitol Heights, Md.) addressed more than 230 members of the media during the day-long event on Sunday. It was the largest media turnout in ACC history for Operation Basketball.

Duke's J.J. Redick was selected as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, while North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough was tabbed as the ACC Rookie of the Year. Redick was joined on the Preseason All-ACC Team by teammate Shelden Williams, along with Craig Smith from Boston College, Guillermo Diaz from Miami and Wake Forest's Justin Gray.

2005-06 ACC Preseason Poll
 1.  Duke (87)          1,044*
 2.  Boston College       918
 3.  Wake Forest          791
 4.  NC State             744
 5.  Maryland             707
 6.  North Carolina       573
 7.  Miami                540
 8.  Virginia Tech        451
 9.  Georgia Tech         380
 10. Clemson              230
 11. Florida State        216
 12. Virginia             192


Pre-Season ACC Player of the Year
J.J. Redick, Duke

Pre-Season ACC Rookie of the Year
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
 
Pre-Season All-ACC
J.J. Redick, Duke            87*
Shelden Williams, Duke       87*
Craig Smith, Boston College  73
Guillermo Diaz, Miami        59
Justin Gray, Wake Forest     57

*denotes unanimous