Every year the ACC asks a cadre of local and national media members and representatives from member schools to make their preseason pick for who will win the Woman's Basketball title. Every year since 1995 either Duke, North Carolina or Maryland has won. Well, not this year.
The University of Miami Hurricanes women's basketball team swept the poll, and team star Shenise Johnson was selected as the pre-season player of the year. If you're looking for a sign that Miami's athletics department can still produce teams with title hopes, then keep your eye on the team this year.
Miami took 30 out of the 40 first place votes. To put that in perspective, the Duke Blue Devils only received 24 first place votes last year. Meanwhile, last year's Miami team was only picked to finish in 8th place. The team went on to finish 12-2 in the conference, and tied Duke to win a share of the regular season championship.
Johnson was also named ACC player of the year, so its perhaps no surprise that she was picked as the preseason player of this year. Meanwhile, Riquna Williams joins her on the preseason all-ACC team.
With the traditional power like Duke and North Carolina losing key players to graduation, the 'Canes are primed for a strong run at the title.
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