MAKING A POINT: Deacons should be a factor in ACC

Wake Forest's Ish Smith looks to his left, and NBA draft pick James Johnson is gone. Smith looks to his right, and draft pick Jeff Teague is gone.

The basketball team that soared to No. 1 in January and crashed in March looks considerably different in July.

"We're excited for those guys living out their dreams," Smith said. "Like any great program, we've got to pick up the pieces and keep moving. I think Carolina, Duke, Kansas and folks like that do it. We're here at Wake Forest trying to become an elite program year in and year out. We've got to pick up the pieces and reload."

The Deacons hardly walk alone. Graduation and undergraduate exits hit the ACC hard.

National champion North Carolina lost four starters. The other 11 schools lost an average of two starters each. The entire All-ACC first team departed. So did five of the 10 players on the second and third teams, leaving Duke's Kyle Singler as the highest scorer, Clemson's Trevor Booker as the foremost inside bull and Maryland's Greivis Vasquez as the most prolific point guard.

At a time of so much transition, no position matters more than point guard. That's why senior Smith will play such a pivotal role for the Deacons, who tied Duke for second place. An injury disrupted his pattern last winter, when Teague started at the point and moved to the wing when Smith came into games.

Smith, senior Vasquez (who flirted with the NBA before returning), junior Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech and junior Demontez Stitt of Clemson should resume their roles as quarterbacks.

Senior Jon Scheyer could fill that job again for Duke, but the hybrid point-guard arrangement that clicked down the stretch disappeared when the defensive half, Elliot Williams, transferred to Memphis. Although Coach Mike Krzyzewski will not make the final call for months, it seems logical that junior Nolan Smith would reclaim full point duties and send Scheyer to the wing.

The Blue Devils' incoming class could grow again if prep junior Andre Dawson gets his final credits this summer and enrolls a year early. Dawson, a 6-5 recruit from Virginia, could help offset the loss of slashing wing Gerald Henderson.

Among the dominant ballhandlers, Ty Lawson of Carolina, voted the ACC's top player, and runner-up Toney Douglas of Florida State will spend next season in the NBA. So will Tyrese Rice, the No. 5 scorer and No. 3 assists man in Boston College history.

That makes Carolina's Larry Drew II perhaps the greatest X-factor in the next ACC race. Drew looked reasonably comfortable as the backup point guard for Bobby Frasor during the ACC Tournament, which Lawson missed with a famously enlarged toe. Drew had five assists and one turnover in 19 minutes during the first-round NCAA blowout over Radford.

The stakes will rise considerably. The Tar Heels will deploy waves of talent inside, including Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, Ty Zeller and 6-10 recruit John Henson. The backcourt is another matter, minus Lawson and shooter Wayne Ellington.

Senior Marcus Ginyard, who sat out last season, will provide defense and leadership at wing guard. He could spend a little time at the point -- as could Dexter Strickland, a freshman combo guard -- but the load probably will fall on sophomore Drew, a 6-1 Californian.

UNC, Duke the favorites?

With so much personnel changing all around, some analysts expect Carolina and Duke to remain the league's powerhouses despite their losses. BC and Georgia Tech fit the rocket-ship profile, capable of going much higher.

BC, which tied for fifth and made the NCAA field, returns four starters plus projected point guard Biko Paris and flashy Reggie Jackson. Coach Al Skinner usually develops a team that exceeds the sum of its parts.

Georgia Tech finished dead last at 2-14, two games worse than abysmal Virginia, but Coach Paul Hewitt retained 6-9 Gani Lawal (who could have been drafted late in the first round) and landed one of the nation's foremost recruits in 6-9 Derrick Favors. Could the Yellow Jackets go from worst to first? The long shot won't happen unless freshman Mfon Udofia and sophomore Iman Shumpert run a smoother show.

Wake Forest's Smith hopes to scramble the Carolina-Duke picture and repel the BC-Georgia Tech uprising. His willing partners include starters Al-Farouq Aminu, L.D. Williams and Chas McFarland. Returnees Tony Woods, David Weaver and Ty Walker give the Deacons unusual depth inside.

Last summer, Smith worked on his obvious shortcoming, foul shooting. His improvement rivaled the biggest gains in stats history, from 29 percent in 2008 to 79 percent in 2009. Smith is practicing his straight-up jumpers and 3-pointers. He figures that opponents will compress defenses and try to keep him out of the lane, especially with Teague gone and other outside shooters unproven.

"Everybody has come back bigger, stronger, faster and more talented," Smith said. "That's the good thing. Gary Clark's shooting the ball very well, and Konner Tucker's shooting the ball well. Ari Stewart (a freshman wing) is so athletic that it's unbelievable."

Because only one ACC team advanced beyond the regional semifinals and so many players moved on, rivals from other leagues suspect that the ACC will slip next season. Not Smith.

"Carolina and Duke always kind of refuel," he said. "I think it'll be a surprising year. People will say: ‘I don't think the ACC will be that good this year.' And then it will be great."

He might have a point, but only if several guys come through at the point.

■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com