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Oct. 29, 2001

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia men’s basketball team was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2001-02 season by media representatives attending the 40th annual ACC Operation Basketball session on October 28 at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro.

UVa guard Roger Mason, Jr., and forward/center Travis Watson were selected pre-season second-team All-ACC. Mason, a junior from Silver Spring, Md., was a third-team All-ACC selection last season when he averaged a team-leading 15.7 points a game and made 88.4 percent (122-138) of his free throws to establish a Virginia single-season record and lead the conference. Watson, a junior from Brookneal, Va., was a second-team All-ACC choice last season after averaging 12.3 points a game and finishing second in the conference in rebounding with an average of 9.1 a game.

Defending national champion Duke was selected to finish first in the ACC this season followed by Maryland and Virginia. Duke received 69 first-place votes and 661 points, Maryland had five first-place votes and 596 points, and Virginia had 483 points. North Carolina was picked to finish fourth with 421 points followed by Wake Forest (407), Georgia Tech (254), North Carolina State (242), Florida State (140) and Clemson (126).

Duke guard Jason Williams was the unanimous choice as the pre-season ACC Player of the Year. Joining Williams as pre-season first-team All-ACC selections were Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy of Duke, and Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon of Maryland. Chris Duhon of Duke, Jason Capel of North Carolina and Josh Howard of Wake Forest joined Mason and Watson on the pre-season All-ACC second team.

Julius Hodge of North Carolina State was the pre-season selection as ACC Rookie of the Year. Virginia’s Elton Brown finished fifth in the voting.

UVA plays its first exhibition game of the 2001-02 pre-season practice period on Friday (Nov. 2) when the Cavaliers host the Nantucket Nectars at University Hall. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

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