Jordan Nwora named ACC Preseason Player of the Year, Louisville picked 3rd

The ACC’s media members have named Louisville’s Jordan Nwora as the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year.

Nwora becomes the first Cardinal to earn the distinction since U of L made the move to the ACC, and the first Louisville player to earn a preseason POY honor since Russ Smith was the American Athletic Conference’s preseason POY back in 2013. If Nwora wins the postseason honor, he’ll be the first Louisville player to win a postseason league Player of the Year award since Clifford Rozier repeated as Metro Conference POY all the way back in 1994.

As a team, Louisville was picked by the league’s media to finish third in the conference behind Duke and North Carolina. Reigning national champion Virginia rounded out the top four.

Here’s the full rundown of ACC preseason honors and accolades:

ACC Preseason Order of Finish (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Duke (51), 1564

2. North Carolina (19), 1493

3. Louisville (29), 1448

4. Virginia (12), 1405

5. Florida State, 1157

6. NC State, 1038

7. Notre Dame, 915

8. Syracuse, 910

9. Miami, 768

10. Pitt, 577

11. Clemson, 564

12. Georgia Tech, 437

13. Boston College, 382

14. Virginia Tech, 334

15. Wake Forest, 328

Preseason All-ACC Team

First Team

Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 95

Tre Jones, Duke, 89

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 81

John Mooney, Notre Dame, 51

Mamadi Diakite, Virginia, 49

Second Team

Markell Johnson, NC State, 39

Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, 19

Chris Lykes, Miami, 18

Garrison Brooks, North Carolina, 11

Trent Forrest, Florida State, 11

Preseason ACC Freshman of the Year

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 89

Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, 8

Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 5

Casey Morsell, Virginia, 3

Cassius Stanley, Duke, 3

Matthew Hurt, Duke, 3

Preseason ACC Player of the Year

Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 55

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 31

Tre Jones, Duke, 19

John Mooney, Notre Dame, 3

Mamadi Diakite, Virginia, 2

Markell Johnson, NC State, 1