ACC notes: Tech voted No. 4 in preseason conference poll

By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GREENSBORO, N.C. – ACC basketball writers weren't ready to predict a complete transformation from Georgia Tech, but they see significant gains on the horizon.

A season after the Yellow Jackets finished last in the ACC with a 2-14 record, conference writers voted them to finish fourth in their preseason ACC poll Sunday at Operation Basketball.

Duke and North Carolina tied in the voting for preseason No. 1, Clemson was third and Georgia Tech was fourth, receiving two of the 48 first-place votes.

Tech 6-foot-10 freshman forward Derrick Favors was selected as the preseason rookie of the year, taking 40 first-place votes to beat out forward John Henson of North Carolina.

One ACC coach who didn't need any polling to tell him what to expect from Georgia Tech this season was Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton. His Seminoles needed a reverse layup from Derwin Kitchen with 7.7 seconds left to knock off Tech in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament last spring.

"They've got our attention," said Hamilton, who said he saw a lot of fight in the Yellow Jackets last March, despite their record. "You have no idea how difficult it is as a coach to hold a team together mentally and emotionally when you're going through a stretch that we all go through at some time.

"You build more character when you overcome that, and that's the intangible thing that makes Georgia Tech more dangerous than anyone else."

New rule on charges

ACC coordinator of basketball officials John Clougherty announced new rule changes coming this season. The one rule generating the most discussion Sunday was a new guideline to eliminate flopping under the basket. The rule follows an NBA precedent.

Any offensive player who runs over a defensive player inside an 18-by-24 inch area from the front of the backboard to the front of the rim would be automatically called for a charge, Clougherty said. The problem is, unlike in the NBA, the designated area will not be marked on the floor. Clougherty said to put new lines on the court would require a two-year trial period.

That doesn't sit well with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose teams are known for using charging fouls to their fullest advantage.

"The intent is really good," Krzyzewski said. "…[But] there should be a line or an arc like the NBA has which take all the imagination out it. We should imagine ourselves being good players. We shouldn't imagine if a kid is in the right position."

Duke guard Jon Scheyer laughed when told word around the interview room Sunday was that this was the "Duke rule."

"That cracks me up," he said. "If we're in the right position, we would take the charge outside that box anyway."