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UNC claims preseason honors in ACC

By Joedy McCreary

AP Sports Writer

Published: October 26, 2009

GREENSBORO - North Carolina's best player is a major question mark. The Tar Heels still have enough talent to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.

For the second straight year, coach Sylvia Hatchell's team is the preseason pick to win the ACC's women's basketball title, despite the uncertain status of Jessica Breland, who's been out since she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Hatchell said Monday during the ACC's Operation Basketball media day that "if I had to make a decision right this minute," Breland probably would be redshirted this season.

The senior forward has undergone five months of chemotherapy to treat the disease that the coach believes was responsible for her chronic breathing problems for the past few years.

Before Breland's diagnosis in May, the coach thought her star was simply out of shape and plagued by a list of comparatively minor conditions: asthma, allergies, the flu, pneumonia, bronchitis.

"From a coach's aspect, for the last two years, the kid has not been well," Hatchell said. "I told her, 'You've got the potential to be an All-American this year, but you've got to be in shape, you've got to be in condition.'

"And then when she was diagnosed, I felt so bad. ... I didn't know she was sick."

Breland still managed to average 14.1 points, second-best on the team, and her team-best 8.5 rebounds per game helped lead North Carolina to a 28-7 record and a spot in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The panel of 45 media members and school representatives who voted on the preseason awards were convinced Breland would be back at full strength this season: She was one of five players picked to the all-league team.

"I told her ... 'If you can make all-ACC, as sick as you were and play like you did, imagine how good you're going to be when you're well,'" Hatchell said.

Joining her were Florida State forward Jacinta Monroe, Boston College center Carolyn Swords and guards Jasmine Thomas of Duke and Virginia guard Monica Wright, the preseason player of the year whom coach Debbie Ryan put on par with former Cavalier great Dawn Staley.

"My favorite part of being that player is just the big-sister role that I get, and being able to actually mold those players and give them advice based on my experiences," Wright said.

North Carolina guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt is the top rookie. Her Tar Heels received 30 first-place votes and were followed by rival Duke, which was voted first on 10 ballots.

Florida State — which shared last year's regular-season title with Maryland — was picked third with two first-place votes. Virginia was fourth, followed by the defending ACC tournament champion Terrapins, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

"There used to be us and Duke and Maryland, and then there was a little bit of a gap," Hatchell said. "Last year, Georgia Tech and Florida State jumped in there. I don't think there's any kind of a gap this year. You can throw all 12 of us in there and shake us up."

One of the key story lines this season involves N.C. State, where former Tennessee star and Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper has the daunting task of replacing Kay Yow, who died in January after her inspirational, two-decade fight with breast cancer.

"I really try to be focused on the task at hand," Harper said. "If I sit in my office and dwell on who I'm following and what she has meant to not only the university but the community, the state, women's basketball in general, it can be overwhelming. So I try to focus each day on what I need to get done and try to be me."