CHARLOTTE – The 2024-25 men’s basketball season is right around the corner and that means preseason accolades. On Tuesday evening, the ACC office announced its Preseason Teams and Poll, and there was no doubt that the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year would make the list.
With that said, Notre Dame guard Markus Burton was named a Preseason First Team All-ACC selection. Burton’s 17.5 ppg is the third highest returning scoring average in the ACC behind North Carolina’s RJ Davis (21.2) and Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis (18.0 ppg).
last year was just the intro@markussburton has been named Preseason All-ACC First Team#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/kHQr5XrVYr
— Notre Dame Men's Basketball (@NDmbb) October 15, 2024
This comes off the heels of becoming the program’s third-ever Rookie of the Year winner for the 2023-24 season (first Rookie winner in the ACC). He was a Third Team All-ACC honoree last year as well.
As a rookie, Burton took the ACC by storm and put his name on a lot of people’s radars. In ACC play only, Burton ranked sixth in points, first in steals (2.2) and third in assists (4.8).
The Mishawaka native totaled 577 points on the year which set the Notre Dame freshman scoring record. He dished out 95 assists in ACC play, which ranked as the fourth most by an Irish player. Furthermore, he recorded 63 steals, which tied ND great Jerian Grant for third-most in a single season.
Burton has been a gym rat all summer and once again has something to prove in year two. In three games in Spain, Burton totaled 58 points, 12 assists, 11 steals and 17 rebounds, helping the Irish go 3-0 on the trip.
Burton will return to Purcell Pavilion with his Irish teammates for the season opener against Stonehill on Nov. 6. Before then, Notre Dame will travel to Fort Wayne for a charity exhibition on Oct. 30.
Lastly, the full ACC Preseason Poll and Player Awards can be found below. Both were voted upon a media contingent from all 18 universities.
Preseason ACC Poll
School, Points
- Duke (42), 956
- North Carolina (11), 924
- Wake Forest (1), 800
- Clemson, 765
- Virginia, 743
- Miami, 659
- Pitt, 636
- NC State, 550
- Louisville, 518
- Notre Dame, 462
- Syracuse, 454
- Georgia Tech, 433
- SMU, 344
- Virginia Tech, 252
- Florida State, 251
- California, 206
- Stanford, 165
- Boston College, 116
First-place votes in parentheses; 54 total voters
Preseason ACC Player of the Year
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 40 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 10
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 3
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 1
Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 53 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 1
Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
RJ Davis*, North Carolina, 54
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 52
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 52
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 41
Nijel Pack, Miami, 37
Second Team
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 36
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 31
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 26
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 21
Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 20
*denotes unanimous selection
– ND –