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As the reloaded national champs gear up for practice on a quest to defend their title, the coach of the Tar Heels still just wants to make Dean Smith proud. Roy Williams wouldn't have it any other way.

To kick off our Summer ShootAround series, we begin in the ACC and look at the top storylines, the key players and the freshmen and games we can't wait to see ... oh yeah, and some predictions.

There will be plenty of movement between now and November, but Kansas tops next season's initial Top 25.

ATLANTA -- The only thing wrong with North Carolina is that Ty Lawson didn't play in the ACC tournament. There's nothing to see here. Keep moving. Carolina is hardly falling apart, even though it needed a final-possession basket to beat Virginia Tec...

UNC coach Roy Williams knows his 2008-09 team, with its impressive talent and depth, will carry the burden of great expectations. So he's made it clear to his team that the Tar Heels' title hopes come first, writes Andy Katz.

"Testing the waters" might be common vernacular for underclassmen declaring for the NBA draft, but the UNC trio of early entrants -- Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green -- all say they're in the draft to get into the league this year, writes Andy Katz.

With the deadline for college underclassmen to declare for the NBA now past, teams can take stock of what their rosters will look like in 2008-09. But it's not easy, since many players are just testing the waters and could return to school, writes Andy Katz.

It's never too early to look ahead and try to predict the Top 25, and the Texas Longhorns are the pre-preseason No. 1, writes Andy Katz.

All year long, North Carolina used last year's Elite Eight loss to Georgetown as its main motivation. With the Tar Heels' easy win over Washington State, they're on the doorstep of their goal. Now they have to just go out and win, writes Andy Katz.

North Carolina freshman forward Brandan Wright is conflicted about whether or not he should enter the NBA draft, but a decision should be announced by Monday or Tuesday, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Sunday.