Although it's only May, most college basketball teams have the majority of their rosters finalized for the 2025-26 season. The Duke Blue Devils dealt with tons of turnover throughout the offseason, but the rotation looks set for the most part. Although there are numerous talented players, the team is very young, and it will be interesting to see where the Blue Devils are ranked heading into the preseason among the ACC.
Let's rank the top five squads out of the ACC heading into the 2025-26 season.
1. Louisville
After going back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 in year one under Pat Kelsey, the Cardinals are looking for more in 2025-26. Louisville was a sleeper contender heading into the 2024-25 campaign, and dominated through the back half of the season to make it all the way to the ACC Championship game. Kelsey is bringing back senior J'Vonne Hadley (12.2 ppg last season) and Kasean Pryor (12.0 ppg before injury). Louisville also cemented the No. 16 overall transfer class per the On3 Transfer Portal Team Industry Rankings, headlined by Adrian Wooley (18.8 ppg at Kennesaw State), Ryan Conwell (16.5 ppg at Xavier), and Isaac McKneely (42.1% 3PT% at Virginia).
Projected starting five:
PG - Mikel Brown Jr. (No. 8 overall player per 247Sports Composite Rankings)
SG - Adrian Wooley
SF - Isaac McKneely
PF - J'Vonne Hadley
C - Kasean Pryor
2. Duke
The Blue Devils ultimately lost their starting five from a Final Four team last season and transfer guard Cedric Coward to the 2025 NBA Draft, but Jon Scheyer is still bringing in tons of talent. Duke boasts the No. 1 overall 2025 recruiting class per 247Sports, which includes Cameron Boozer (No. 3 overall prospect), Nik Khamenia (No. 15 overall prospect), and Dame Sarr. Although the rotation will be extremely young as Caleb Foster will be the only starting upperclassman, the sheer talent the Blue Devils are bringing in, mixed with an elite coach in Scheyer, Duke can't be put any lower.
Projected starting five:
PG - Caleb Foster (4.9 ppp as sophomore)
SG - Isaiah Evans (41.6% 3PT% as freshman)
SF - Dame Sarr (53.7% FG% for FC Barcelona)
PF - Cameron Boozer
C - Patrick Ngongba II (3.9 ppg as freshman)
3. North Carolina State
Newly appointed Wolfpack head coach Will Wade has been putting in work in the portal and has completely transformed this NC State roster. Wade has put together one of the best portal classes out of the ACC, headlined by Darrion Williams (15.1 ppg at Texas Tech), Terrance Arceneaux (6.5 ppg at Houston), and Tre Holloman (9.1 ppg at Michigan State). It's still unclear how consistently great a team completely made up of transfers can be, but Wade has the talent to seriously compete in the ACC. NC State is also adding four-star recruits Matt Able and Zymicah Wilkins.
Projected starting five:
PG - Tre Holloman
SG - Matt Able
SF - Terrance Arceneaux
PF - Darrion Williams
C - Paul Mbiya
4. North Carolina
Hubert Davis was able to reload after losing his two star freshmen, Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, from a team that made the NCAA Tournament, but probably didn't deserve to. Elliot Cadeau also hit the portal, but the Tar Heels are bringing in five-star recruit Caleb Wilson along with transfers Kyan Evans (44.6% 3PT% at Colorado State), Jaydon Young (8.1 ppg at Virginia Tech), Jarin Stevenson (5.4 ppg at Alabama), and Henri Veesaar (9.4 ppg at Arizona). In a crucial year for Davis' future as the UNC head coach, he has a good rotation at his disposal to make noise in the ACC next season.
Projected starting five:
PG - Jaydon Young
SG - Kyan Evans
SF - Seth Trimble
PF - Caleb Wilson
C - Henri Veesaar
5. Miami
Again, it's unclear whether a roster completely overhauled with new faces can be good right away, but new Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas is bringing in a ton of experience, enough to put Miami in the top five of these rankings. Some of the biggest names coming into Coral Gables next season are Tre Donaldson (11.3 ppg at Michigan), Malik Reneau (13.3 ppg at Indiana), Tru Washington (11.1 ppg at New Mexico), and Ernest Udeh Jr. (6.6 ppg at TCU). Lucas is also bringing in four-star Shelton Henderson, who was previously committed to Duke but ended up decommitting and following Lucas to Miami.
Projected starting five:
PG - Tre Donaldson
SG - Tru Washington
SF - Malik Reneau
PF - Marcus Allen (2.6 ppg at Missouri)
C - Ernest Udeh Jr.