North Carolina State University Athletics
Dennis Smith Jr., named ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year; Pack Selected Sixth in Preseason Poll
10/26/2016 4:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Smith vying to become second Pack player in ACC history to win ROY honors
NC State freshman guard Dennis Smith, Jr., was named the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year on Wednesday. Smith was also voted on to the first team preseason All-ACC team as the Wolfpack was selected to finish in sixth in the 15-team ACC preseason poll.
The voting was done by media in conjunction with the league's annual 'Operation Basketball' event.
Smith was a consensus five-star recruit coming out of Trinity Christian Academy and is the highest-ranked recruit to sign with the Wolfpack since the Recruiting Services Consensus Index began ranking prospects in 1998.Â
The No. 4 overall recruit and No. 1 point guard in the 2016 class according to ESPN.com, Smith elected to graduate high school early in order to enroll at NC State in January of 2016 after injuring his knee in August of 2015.
Smith led Trinity Christian to a state championship as a sophomore and as a junior averaged 22.2 points per game on his way to being named North Carolina's Gatorade Player of the Year.
Smith is vying to become the only the second Wolfpack player to earn ACC Rookie of the Year honors. Hawkeye Whitney was co-Rookie of the Year with Duke's Mike Gminski in 1977.
The Fayetteville, N.C. native is the only freshman to make the preseason All-ACC first team.
The Wolfpack was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll. The Pack return two double-figure scorers from last year's team in Abdul-Malik Abu and Maverick Rowan, the school's all-time blocked shots leader BeeJay Anya and welcome a six-member freshman class, headlined by five-star recruits Smith and Omer Yurtseven.
The Pack will also will have Torin Dorn, the Conference USA Player of the Year in 2014-15 who sat out last season as a transfer from UNC-Charlotte and Terry Henderson, who was injured in the opening minutes of NC State's first game last season.
The NC State men's basketball team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in four of Head Coach Mark Gottfried's five seasons with the program.
The Wolfpack hosts its first exhibition game of the season on Thursday, Nov. 3 against Lynn University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. All seats are general admission and cost $5.
ACC Operation Basketball 2016-17 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
Team & Points
1. Duke (85) - 1359
2. North Carolina (6) - 1239
3. Virginia - 1125
4. Louisville - 1034
5. Syracuse - 905
6. NC State - 772
7. Notre Dame - 716
8. Florida State - 705
9. Miami - 650
10. Virginia Tech - 645
11. Clemson - 623
12. Pitt - 511
13. Wake Forest - 309
14. Georgia Tech - 199
15. Boston College – 128
2016-17 Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
Grayson Allen, Duke (87)
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson (70)
Joel Berry II, North Carolina (45)
London Perrantes, Virginia (36)
Dennis Smith, Jr., NC State (34)
Second Team
Justin Jackson, North Carolina (22)
Jayson Tatum, Duke (21)
Tyler Lydon, Syracuse (20)
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State (16)
Michael Young, Pitt (14)
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Grayson Allen, Duke
ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
Dennis Smith, Jr., NC State
