The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s basketball teams both were picked to finish in the bottom half of the ACC standings, according to the league’s preseason poll released Tuesday. Tech’s men were predicted to finish 12th, while the Tech women were slated for 10th.
Tech center Baye Ndongo was named to the second-team preseason all-ACC team. The 6-foot-9 sophomore from Mboro, Senegal, was the Yellow Jackets’ No. 2 scorer (12.4 points per game) and top rebounder (8.2 per game) last season, earning a spot on the ACC’s all-rookie team. He also was named a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award as the nation’s top freshman.
Ndongo ranked No. 7 in the ACC in rebound average, No. 6 in offensive rebounds (2.55 per game), No. 2 in field-goal percentage (55.8) and No. 12 in blocked shots (1.1 per game). He averaged 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds over Tech’s final four games while making 55.3% of his shots from the floor and 82.4% from the free-throw line. Ndongo had six double-doubles.
As a team, Tech was predicted to come in 12th in the 18-team league one season after going 7-13 in ACC play and 0-1 in the ACC tournament. Duke was predicted as the ACC favorite, with North Carolina second and Wake Forest third.
North Carolina’s RJ Davis was voted as the preseason ACC player of the year, while Duke’s Cooper Flagg was predicted as the preseason ACC rookie of the year.
The Tech women had no players selected to the league’s preseason all-ACC team or newcomer watch list. The Jackets, after a 7-11 mark in conference play last season, were picked to finish 10th in the 18-team ACC.
Notre Dame was predicted to win the ACC, while North Carolina State was picked second and Duke third. Hannah Hidalgo, a sophomore guard from Notre Dame, was chosen as the league’s preseason player of the year.
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