Brown: ACC basketball remains slippery slope, but Louisville could easily gain traction

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For all the reasons why Louisville could get buried by the ACC, there’s also reason to believe that the Cardinals can finish in the upper tier. There’s never been a better time to be a program looking for traction in the league.

Louisville wasn’t one of the teams that generated much excitement Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff media day. During the Cards' breakout session, only a handful of reporters gathered to ask questions from players JJ Traynor and Mike James and U of L coach Kenny Payne.

When the league releases its preseason poll Thursday, it’s likely to reflect that apathy toward the Ville with a placement in the bottom half of the league.

“We’re going to shock them,” Traynor said. “I like nobody expecting us or looking us off because of last year, but, to be honest, I don’t really understand it because we have a new team.”

And a new team in this league can soar fast and high. Last season, the top three teams in the standings were Miami, Virginia and a three-way tie with Clemson, Pitt and Duke.

The top three teams in the 2021-22 standings were Duke, North Carolina and Notre Dame. And going back to the disjointed, COVID-riddled season of 2020-21, UVA, Florida State and Virginia Tech finished in the top three.

That’s nine teams in three seasons, more than half the league, which have had a taste of contending for the top.

“That’s like the main thing on my mind is how people are doubting us, not talking about us, putting us low,” James said. “It’ll mean everything to me to come out and surprise a whole bunch of people and win some games.”

There’s no Dean Smith lording over the league. Nor is there a Mike Krzyzewski or Roy Williams. There’s no coach who intimidates the referees or a program that gets all the calls.

There’s not even one team that has dominated the league to the point of unifying the rest of its members in hate, like the ABCers (Anybody But Carolina) of the ACC’s past.

When Louisville first joined the league in 2014, there were four Hall of Fame coaches with Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, Williams and Krzyzewski.

Now, there are none. (Although there’s a strong case for the league’s oldest coaches in Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton and Miami’s Jim Larranaga, who was on the Naismith Hall of Fame ballot last year.)

Virginia’s Tony Bennett is the only current ACC coach with a national title to his credit. Larranaga (2006 George Mason, 2023 Miami) and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis (2022) are the only other coaches who have reached the Final Four.

What exists are a bunch of teams, seven of which have coaches who’ve spent three years or less at their current schools, that are chasing consistency.

The Blue Devils maintained their ability to recruit elite talent under Jon Scheyer, but in his second season after taking over for Krzyzewski, there’s still not enough of a sample size to judge him as a coach.

The Canes finished 13th in the league just two seasons ago. Carolina went from playing for the 2022 national title to not making the NCAA Tournament last season.

The ACC has plenty room for change each season.

Duke, North Carolina and Miami are the only three ACC teams ranked in the preseason polls.

Virginia received votes in both polls, mainly based on the track record of Bennett, who is the second-longest-tenured coach in the league behind Hamilton.

There’s no reason to believe any of the remaining teams in the league have much of a boost over U of L. And that includes three teams with new coaches in Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire, Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry and Syracuse’s Adrian Autry.

Instead of trying to gauge what the Cards have, it seems they’re being judged on the 28 losses from last season.

“I enjoy it,” Payne said. “Because it’s going to be what our motivating factor is.”

The Cards, like the ACC as a whole, are out to restore where they have historically been. Now is as good a time as any to do so.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: ACC basketball: Kenny Payne, Louisville positioned for quick ascent