Miami received two connected pieces of preseason recognition Tuesday morning: The Hurricanes landed at No. 4 in Jon Rothstein’s ACC preseason power rankings, and sophomore forward Shelton Henderson made his preseason All-ACC first team.
Rothstein placed Duke first, Virginia second and Louisville third, followed by Miami. North Carolina, Clemson and Syracuse completed his top seven. The ranking puts the Hurricanes ahead of several established conference programs before Jai Lucas begins his second season in Coral Gables.
Rothstein’s order is his own projection, not the ACC’s official preseason poll. It still gives Miami a useful measure of its changed expectations. Lucas took over a program coming off a seven-win season and led the Hurricanes to a 26-9 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first year. A No. 4 placement treats that turnaround as a foundation instead of a one-season surprise.
The individual selection explains much of that confidence. Rothstein picked Henderson alongside Duke center Patrick Ngongba, Louisville forward Flory Bidunga, Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder and Duke guard John Blackwell. Henderson is the only Miami player on the five-man group.
Henderson built the case during a productive freshman season. He started all 35 games and averaged 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 56.7% from the floor, which ranked third nationally among freshmen. He also tied the school’s freshman scoring record with 30 points against FIU and scored 18 points against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.
Miami now needs Henderson to turn strong freshman production into the consistent star performance that a first-team label implies. His size and downhill game already make him difficult to keep away from the rim. More perimeter shooting and playmaking would give Lucas more ways to build the offense around him, especially when opponents crowd the lane and force Miami to win from outside.
The Hurricanes also strengthened the roster around Henderson. Miami added Acaden Lewis and Somto Cyril while retaining a player with the physical tools to develop into an NBA wing, Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports wrote in June. Salerno ranked Henderson No. 14 among the most important retentions in college basketball.
Those additions matter because a fourth-place team cannot depend on one player to solve every difficult possession. Lewis can organize the offense, Cyril can give Miami a stronger interior presence and the returning pieces can help Lucas protect Henderson from carrying an unreasonable workload. Henderson’s job is not to dominate the ball on every trip. It is to become the dependable matchup advantage that holds the lineup together.
The two Rothstein posts reinforce each other. Miami’s team ranking says the roster belongs near the top of the ACC. Henderson’s first-team selection identifies the player expected to give that roster a conference-level star. One projection would have been encouraging by itself; together, they establish a much clearer preseason standard.
Miami still has to prove the ranking on the court, and Duke, Virginia and Louisville enter the preseason ahead of the Hurricanes in Rothstein’s order. The difference from a year ago is that Miami no longer enters the season asking whether Lucas can make the program relevant. The question now is whether Henderson and a deeper roster can keep the Hurricanes in the ACC’s top tier.
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