After winning ACC regular season, North Carolina basketball grabs top league honors
ACC regular-season champion North Carolina produced the league’s top player and coach this men’s basketball season.
UNC’s Hubert Davis was the overwhelming choice for coach of the year, while senior guard RJ Davis is the player of the year, in voting announced Monday.
Hubert Davis led the Tar Heels (25-6, 17-3 ACC) back to the top of the conference one year after UNC began the season ranked No. 1 but finished 20-13 and failed to even make the NCAA Tournament. Davis added transfers Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram to the roster while also seeing freshman guard Elliot Cadeau reclassify to enroll a year ahead of schedule.
RJ Davis averaged 21.1 points per game this season while making 43.2% of his shots. He’s also dished out 3.5 assists per game.
RJ Davis was joined on the all-ACC’s first team by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, Clemson’s PJ Hall, Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis and Blake Hinson of Pittsburgh.
UNC center Armando Bacot headed up the second team, along with Virginia’s Reece Beekman, Judah Mintz of Syracuse, Boston College’s Quinten Post and Miami’s Norchad Omier.
RJ Davis received 68 first-place votes from the panel, while Duke’s Fililpowski was next with three. In the coach of the year balloting, Hubert Davis had 49 votes to easily outpace the second-place finisher, Pitt’s Jeff Capel with 12. Capel was last year’s coach of the year.
Hubert Davis is the first UNC coach to win the award since Roy Williams in 2011. This is the 13th time a Tar Heels coach has won the award — the most of any ACC school. Dean Smith won it eight times during his Hall of Fame career.
RJ Davis is the 16th Tar Heels player to win ACC player of the year. That’s second-most among any school. Duke’s had 18 ACC players of the year.
The last time UNC produced an ACC player of year was Justin Jackson in 2017.
Other ACC award winners this season are Notre Dame’s Markus Burton (rookie of the year), Virginia’s Beekman (defensive player of the year), Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin (most improved player) and Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett (sixth man of the year).
2023-24 ALL-ACC TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name School Points
RJ Davis North Carolina 373
PJ Hall Clemson 363
Kyle Filipowski Duke 346
Hunter Sallis Wake Forest 292
Blake Hinson Pitt 280
SECOND TEAM
Armando Bacot North Carolina 271
Reece Beekman Virginia 263
Judah Mintz Syracuse 219
Norchad Omier Miami 172
Quinten Post Boston College 135
THIRD TEAM
DJ Horne NC State 109
Harrison Ingram North Carolina 91
Jeremy Roach Duke 85
Markus Burton Notre Dame 69
Sean Pedulla Virginia Tech 62
HONORABLE MENTION
Joseph Girard III Clemson 54
Jamir Watkins Florida State 47
Jared McCain Duke 29
Ian Schieffelin Clemson 24
Miles Kelly Georgia Tech 16
Carlton Carrington Pitt 12
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield Louisville 10
Ryan Dunn Virginia 10
Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).
Player of the Year
RJ Davis North Carolina 68 votes
Kyle Filipowski Duke 3
PJ Hall Clemson 2
Armando Bacot North Carolina 1
Quinten Post Boston College 1
Defensive Player of the Year
Reece Beekman Virginia 43 votes
Ryan Dunn Virginia 19
Armando Bacot North Carolina 4
Maliq Brown Syracuse 4
Quinten Post Boston College 2
Jaeden Zackery Boston College 1
Jack Clark Clemson 1
Quadir Copeland Syracuse 1
Rookie of the Year
Markus Burton Notre Dame 46 votes
Jared McCain Duke 20
Carlton Carrington Pitt 5
Baye Ndongo Georgia Tech 2
Caleb Foster Duke 1
Kyshawn George Miami 1
Most Improved Player
Ian Schieffelin Clemson 30 votes
Hunter Sallis Wake Forest 18
Lynn Kidd Virginia Tech 12
Harrison Ingram North Carolina 5
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield Louisville 3
Maliq Brown Syracuse 3
Devin McGlockton Boston College 3
Isaac McKneely Virginia 1
Sixth Man of the Year
Ishmael Leggett Pitt 33 votes
Quadir Copeland Syracuse 20
Seth Trimble North Carolina 6
Kyle Sturdivant Georgia Tech 5
Mason Madsen Boston College 4
Primo Spears Florida State 4
Caleb Foster Duke 3
Coach of the Year
Hubert Davis North Carolina 49 votes
Jeff Capel Pittsburgh 12
Adrian Autry Syracuse 6
Micah Shrewsberry Notre Dame 3
Jon Scheyer Duke 2
Damon Stoudamire Georgia Tech 1
Brad Brownell Clemson 1
Tony Bennett Virginia 1
All-Defensive Team
Reece Beekman Virginia 73 votes
Ryan Dunn Virginia 65
Maliq Brown Syracuse 48
Armando Bacot North Carolina 26
Quinten Post Boston College 21
All-Rookie Team
Markus Burton Notre Dame 73 votes
Jared McCain Duke 73
Carlton Carrington Pitt 65
Baye Ndongo Georgia Tech 60
Elliot Cadeau North Carolina 39