Latta Tabbed For Preseason ACC Rookie Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina freshman Ivory Latta was picked as the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Rookie of the Year by a vote of the media at Wednesday's ACC Women's Basketball Media Day. Latta's selection marks the third consecutive season that a Tar Heel player has been tabbed for the honor.

Leah Metcalf was the Preseason Rookie of the Year in 2001 and went on to earn ACC All-Freshman team honors. Last year's pick was La'Tangela Atkinson, who also claimed Rookie of the Year honors at the end of the season.

Latta, a 5-6 guard from McConnells, S.C., came to UNC as a high school All-America and the top scorer in South Carolina history with 4,319 career points. She averaged 44.5 points per game as a senior at York Comprehensive High School and was named the Morgan Wootten National Girls High School Player of the Year.

Tar Heel junior Nikita Bell, Carolina's top returning scorer, was named to the Preseason All-ACC team. Bell was a second-team All-ACC pick last season after averaging 11.4 points per game.

UNC finished second to Duke in the preseason poll. The Blue Devils received all 36 first-place votes and a total of 324 points. Carolina got 288 points, followed by Virginia (242), Georgia Tech (196) and Florida State (186). In the five-through-nine spots were NC State, Clemson, Maryland and Wake Forest.

Duke's Alana Beard, the ACC Player of the Year the last two seasons, was the unanimous pick for Preseason Player of the Year. Joining Beard and Bell on the All-ACC team were Duke's Iciss Tillis, Georgia Tech's Fallon Stokes and Virginia's Brandi Teamer.

2003-04 PRESEASON POLL
1. Duke (36)
2. North Carolina
3. Virginia
4. Georgia Tech
5. Florida State
6. NC State
7. Clemson
8. Maryland
9. Wake Forest

2003-04 PRESEASON ALL-ACC TEAM
Alana Beard, Duke
Iciss Tillis, Duke
Fallon Stokes, Georgia Tech
Brandi Teamer, Virginia
Nikita Bell, North Carolina

2003-04 PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alana Beard, Duke

2003-04 PRESEASON ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Ivory Latta, North Carolina