NC State women's basketball lands two on preseason All-ACC team, picked to finish second

After checking in at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, NC State women’s basketball is among the favorites to compete in the ACC entering the 2025-26 campaign.

The Wolfpack was picked to finish second in the conference’s preseason poll, earning 25 of the 70 possible first-place votes, the ACC announced Tuesday afternoon. Duke, ranked seventh in the AP Top 25, is the league favorite after earning 40 first-place votes.

This is NC State’s sixth time being picked to finish second in the ACC’s preseason poll, joining the 1995-96, 1999-00, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2024-25 teams.

NC State, which won its seventh ACC Regular Season Championship last season, landed a pair of players on the All-ACC team going into the new campaign. Junior guard Zoe Brooks and junior forward Khamil Pierre both found themselves on the conference’s preseason team as the Wolfpack was just one of two teams (Duke) to have multiple players on it.

Brooks, the Pack’s floor general, is coming off a career-best 14.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 31.8 minutes per game a year ago. The First Team All-ACC selection shot 46.2 percent from the field with a 75.6 percent mark from the free throw line last season. Brooks started in all 34 games she played in the 2024-25 season, scoring in double figures in 28 games with four 20-plus point games with a 30-point performance to go alongside a pair of double-doubles.

Pierre, meanwhile, is in her first season at NC State after transferring from Vanderbilt. She averaged a career-best 20.4 points with 9.6 rebounds and 2.9 steals in 30.5 minutes as a sophomore with the Commodores. Pierre led the SEC in field goals made with 273 as she shot 49.8 percent from the field. Additionally, the Wolfpack’s impact transfer logged 17 double-doubles, while she scored in double digits in all but one game a year ago.

Preseason All-ACC Team (First-place votes – 70 voters)

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame (56 first-place votes)
Zoe Brooks, NC State (3)
Kymora Johnson, Virginia (1)
Toby Fournier, Duke (1)
Ashlon Jackson, Duke (1)
Tajianna Roberts, Louisville (3)
Khamil Pierre, NC State
Reniya Kelly, North Carolina
Nunu Agara, Stanford
Laura Ziegler, Louisville

Sa’Myah Smith (Virginia), Carleigh Wenzel (Virginia Tech) each received one first-place vote.

Preseason All-Freshman Team

Emilee Skinner, Duke
Hailee Swain, Stanford
Nyla Brooks, North Carolina
Lara Smofai, Stanford
Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, California
Leah Macy, Notre Dame

Predicted Order of Finish (First-place votes)

1. Duke (40)
2. NC State (25)
3. North Carolina (1)
4. Louisville (2)
5. Notre Dame (2)
6. Stanford
7. Virginia
8. Miami
9. Florida State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Clemson
12. California
13. Syracuse
14. SMU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Pitt
17. Boston College
18. Wake Forest