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March 31, 2016

Thanks Malcolm, Anthony, Mike, Evan, and Caid!

Turns out, four days is enough time to cycle through the different stages of grief.



Sunday night was denial and isolation.

Monday was anger.  See also: "Dearth of Motherfuckers."

Tuesday was bargaining.  What'd we do wrong?  What could we have done better?  And a whole bunch of "if only..."

Yesterday was good old fashioned depression.

Today... acceptance.  I'm at peace with our Elite Eight appearance, and ready to give Malcolm, Anthony, Mike, Evan, and Caid the warm thanks that they deserve for building this program into one that is now nationally relevant.

I can't improve upon Chris Graham's column, so I'll just link it.  Give it a click, give it a read.







March 28, 2016

Dearth of Motherfuckers

I said it just prior to the Tournament, and it proved prophetic.

"A lack of motherfuckers. Yeah, I'm being serious. We have nice guys on this squad, and that's great. They are a joy to watch play and fantastic representatives of this fine University. But other than MAYBE London Perrantes, none of them are junkyard dogs. None of them are stab-you-in-the-face motherfuckers. And you need some motherfuckers to win these wars in March."


I was right, of course.  Just look at the box score against Syracuse.  There's London Perrantes with 18 big points.  He was the only motherfucker on a team full of choir boys... which is why we're at home singing the blues while the Cuse is dancing their way to Houston.



Syracuse put a few motherfuckers on the floor against us -- Gbinije, Roberson, and of course, Malachi Richardson.  Motherfuckers do things like snare key offensive rebounds and drill clutch 3s when the game swings in the balance, not missing the front end of 1-and-1s and coughing up backbreaking turnovers.  Motherfuckers walk out onto the court and play like they found two golden eggs in their easter baskets, not a like they've got a basket full of marshmallow-soft peeps.  Motherfuckers play basketball to win and they relish the spotlight, the brighter the better.  Our team of choir boys melted under the lights.

It's sad, really.  Our quest for validation continues.  Maybe Tony now realizes that he needs to go out and find a few motherfuckers.




Assorted thoughts on this sad Monday:

-- As much as I love Tony Bennett, Jim Boeheim ate him alive last night.  Just fucking unhinged his jaw and sucked him down his gullet like some kind of greasy, slimeball snake.

-- Credit and kudos to Darius Thompson, who flashed a little motherfucker in his game and has me feeling much better about him heading into next season.

-- Whatever the opposite of credit and kudos are, give them to Devon Hall.  Down the stretch last night, Hall was our antidote to winning.

-- I wish the team hadn't forgotten to bring Malcolm Brogdon with them to Chicago.  Whoever that was out there wearing #15, it wasn't the Brog that I know and love.  What kills me is that when UVA retires his jersey and I see it hanging in the rafters, I'll remember the shrinking violet Chicago first, and all of the awesome and amazing things he did second.  Makes me sad.

-- I wish Tony hadn't forgotten to insert Marial Shayok into the game in the second half.  What the fuck was Evan Nolte doing out there?  What the fuck was Devon Hall doing out there?  6 minutes for Shayok was criminal.  13 for Nolte was a horrible mistake.  33 for Hall was downright asinine.

-- Zay Wilkins, I love him, but he was terrible against the Cuse.  Glad he has another two seasons to grow from this.

-- College basketball officiating is a joke, by the way.  Fuckin' amateurs.  But I'm not trying to pin this one on the zebras.

-- There's no catharsis.  There's no way to feel better.  Sorry Tony, it's a sweet sentiment, but there's no joy the morning after the weeping.  This was an epic meltdown, a terrific collapse, and it undid all of the good will we might have earned with the first three wins in this Tournament.  Validation?  Pshaw.  All this did was prove the reason why Virginia gets zero credit on a national level.  With Michigan State out of the way, our path was wide open.  We'll never see a softer, sweeter cakewalk to the Final Four, ever, ever, never, ever again.  Major wasted opportunity.  It was a cookiedough smoothie, and instead of drinking it down, we choked on it.

-- It hurts.  It just hurts.  Brogdon, Gill, Tobey, Nolte, these guys built this program, and they deserved a better end to their careers.

-- Futhermore, Hoofans deserved a Final Four this season.  God damn it.

-- As my friend Joe said, I'm no longer certain if the pleasure is worth the pain.



-- Now, I don't want to be all doom and gloom.  This was a good season, capping a great three-year run with this core.  Next year's team will look a lot different, but will feature a few more players with motherfucker potential.  London Perrantes is back for his senior season.  Austin Nichols, the chew-chomping, athletic, low post freak, will come off of his transfer redshirt to fill (and expand upon?) the Anthony Gill role.  Mamadi Diakite enters the picture as a redshirt freshman rim protector.  Kyle Guy has the most motherfucker potential (and regular, old-fashioned basketball potential) of any recruit during the Bennett era.  Plus, he's Tony's first McDonald's All-American, so there's that.  Shayok's back, to make that big sophomore-to-junior leap.  Thompson is back, trying to make that same leap, trying to capitalize on the momentum from his game against Syracuse.  Hall is back, ready to slide into the Nolte role of completely minimized headcase upperclassman.  Isaiah Wilkins is back, doing all of the good glue guy stuff he does... just don't count on him to play the high post against the 2-3 matchup zone!  The Bang Bros, Reuter and Salt, trying to make a dent in the rotation.  The other frosh; crafty combo guard Ty Jerome (possibly redshirting to heal a busted hip), sharpshooting stretch-4 Jay Huff (possibly redshirting to add some strength), uber-athletic small forward DeAndre Hunter.  In terms of stars awarded to players via the recruiting process, Tony will be dealing with his most talented roster to date.  Check it out...

  • Perrantes - 3-star in 2013
  • Nichols - 5-star in 2013 (to Memphis)
  • Hall - 3-star in 2013
  • Thompson - 3-star in 2013 (to Tennessee)
  • Wilkins - 3-star in 2014
  • Shayok - 3-star in 2014
  • Salt - unrated in 2014
  • Diakite - 5-star in 2015
  • Reuter - 3-star in 2015
  • Guy - 4.5-star in 2016
  • Jerome - 4-star in 2016
  • Hunter - 4-star in 2016
  • Huff - 4-star in 2016


The guys with motherfucker potential are listed in bold.  And we'll need some of them to find that stab-you-in-the-fucking-face ability, because we already know what a team full of choir boys can accomplish in March.

*sigh*

I lied, there is some catharsis.

This felt good.

Bring on 2016-17!  I'm officially excited to see what kind of stamp London Perrantes can put on the team as its unquestioned leader.  That might be cool.

GO HOOS!




March 14, 2016

Quick Bracket Breakdown



Lazy blogging! A unorganized list of thoughts! Fire the hot takes!

-- Let me get this out of the way first: The 1-seed is an honor, but I think I speak the secret fear of Hoofans everywhere when I say that everybody knows a 16 will eventually beat a 1 at some point in history.  And when it happens, I think we all know it'll be Virginia playing the role of the unlucky 1-seed.  So there's that.

-- The 1-seed is an honor, but it's also a curse.  You have that target on your back.  And if you don't make it to the Final Four, you will have under-performed your seed.  It's tough!

-- Of course, the big thing on everyone's mind is Michigan Fucking State as the 2-seed in our bracket.  We KNEW the fucking committee would do this, didn't we?  We just knew it.  But I thought we'd be the 2 to Sparty's 1.  Somehow this is worse, because they'll have that "we got disrespected" chip on their shoulder.

-- Add it all up, and I wish we could throw this 1-seed back and go fish again.  I would have loved the 2-seed in the West [Oklahoma's spot] or the 2-seed in the East [Xavier's spot].  But the die is cast, we gotta go to work.

-- If the Hoos play like the hunter instead of the hunted, we'll make it far in this tournament.  Hampton is the toughest 16-seed by my approximation, but that doesn't matter.  We should trounce those clowns.  It'd be good to set that 'hunter instead of hunted' tone in the 1st round.  Just pounce on them and rip their throats out.

-- Texas Tech / Butler is (in my humble opinion) the weakest 8/9 pairing in the field.  St. Joe's/Cincy isn't that tough either, but I like our draw for the 1st and 2nd round.  I like it a lot.  Sweet Sixteen in a veritable cakewalk.

-- Oh, and playing these games in Raleigh is a blessing.  Thanks committee!

-- The Sweet Sixteen is when things get hairy.  Playing Purdue in Chicago seems unfair.  But maybe Iowa State is who we'll face.  I think that's probably what America wants, so we can see what it looks like when two contrasting styles clash.  I'm about 60% confident of a win over Purdue, 70% confident against Iowa State, just because I think the substance of Bennettball would overwhelm the style of Cyclonemania.  But make no mistake, either of these games would be dangerous indeed.

-- Little Rock and Iona might have something to say about all of this.  If I had to make a list of double-digit seeds capable of advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, both of those teams would make the top-5.  (The list, by the way, in order: Wichita State, Northern Iowa, Stony Brook, Temple, Iona, VCU, Pitt, Gonzaga... hey that's eight!  Chattanooga and Stony Brook would both make the list if they weren't facing Indiana and Kentucky in the 1st round.)

-- So, once we get past Hampton, TT/Butler, and ISU/Purdue/Little Rock/Iona, there lies Michigan Fucking State.  Middle Tennessee ain't beating 'em.  Dayton/Syracuse sure as hell ain't beating 'em.  Utah, Seton Hall, or Gonzaga might have a chance, but I doubt it.  So it's the showdown with Sparty to make it to the Final Four.  Great script.  And wow, what a compelling revenge tale.  I just don't see us being able to win that game in front of a 90% partisan crowd in Chicago, in front of a sea of green.  I hope I'm wrong.

-- You're going to be discussing this shit with other Hoofans this week and next week, and I want to remind you of this quick talking point: Only the NCAA Tournament matters.  The regular season and conference tournament might as well be called the "preseason," because only the NCAA Tournament matters.  Disagree?  Sorry, but you're just wrong.

-- Okay, last thing I want to get into before I head out for the day: a little bit of pre-tourney self-scouting...

Virginia's Strengths for NCAA Tournament Play:

  • Veterans.  Four seniors in the regular rotation, including two 5th-year seniors.  Plus, a junior point guard who has started close to 100 games.
  • Tournament experience.  The game against Hampton will be the sixth NCAA Tournament game these guys have played.  That means something.  I hope it means a lot!
  • Malcolm Brogdon's defense.  Any opposing scorer who plays the 1, 2, 3, or stretch 4 can be effectively negated by Brog's defense.  So if/when we face a team with one predominant scorer who plays on the wing, we'll win.
  • Malcolm Brogdon's offense.  The shots not falling against UNC in the ACCT final made me very nervous.  It was shades of the dead legs we had in 2015, and gave me a bit of indigestion.  But otherwise, we have no reason to feel anything other than extreme confidence when it comes to Brog's ability to carry our team on offense.
  • The Pack-Line.  It's playing better now than it has at any point this season, give or take.  That's good news, because if an opponent has to find its scoring predominantly in the paint, we'll just go ahead and shut that the fuck down.
  • London Perrantes for 3.  Maybe he's streaky, maybe he's pass-first, and maybe he's hesitant to take on too much of the scoring responsibility, but his cold-blooded shooting and penchant for delivering daggers is probably my single biggest reason for optimism in the Big Dance.  Teams who win in March are the teams who see a guy get supernova hot from the perimeter, and London is that guy for us.
  • Anthony Gill (and to a lesser extent Mike Tobey) down low.  A good low post offense is like having a good between-the-tackles running game in football.  If you want to grind opponents to death (and Virginia wants to grind opponents to death -- that's our game!), then you need reliable low post offense.  We've got that.
  • Role players stepping up.  Devon Hall is playing better and better (two stupid passes against UNC aside) and Marial Shayok seems to be grooving at the right time.  Plus we have Evan Nolte making shots, Mike Tobey playing a little bit more assertively, and Isaiah Wilkins doing all of the good glue guy stuff.  The supporting cast is surging at the right time.
  • Depth.  We go a legit 9-deep, 10 if you count Reuter (I don't).  Many/most teams cap it at 7.  So if we end up fighting a war of attrition, we might have a better chance.
  • Free throw shooting.  .754 as a team is pretty good.
  • Tony Bennett.  He's a good coach.

Virginia's Weaknesses for NCAA Tournament Play:
  • Relative difficulty in slowing down TWO perimeter scorers.  Translation: Perrantes, Hall, and Shayok aren't defensive difference-makers.
  • Abysmal weakness against opposing stretch-4s who can shoot the J.  You know this to be true.  You've seen it all too many times.
  • A general lack of top-end talent.  We've got good players who are well-prepared and who have been developed into fine college basketball players, but the raw talent is a 3.25-star caliber, not a 4.75-star caliber like we could face against a few of the teams in the bracket.  (See also: our ACCT loss to North Carolina.)  We don't have NBA talent on our team, Brog's longshot at a cup-o-coffee with the Association notwithstanding.
  • The mind-fuck of potentially playing Michigan State in the tourney for the third consecutive season.  You know it's a thing.  Maybe the guys relish the opportunity to get some revenge, but vengeance-lust seems outside of our DNA.
  • A lack of comfort playing catch-up if we get behind in a game.
  • Scoring weakness outside of the 'big three;' two of our STARTERS average less than 5 ppg.  That's unique... and it's not a good unique.
  • Only two guys with more than 20 made 3s.  We lack a third shooter who can get hot off the bench.  HOWEVER, Shayok has knocked down 42.4% of his 33 attempts (14-for-33) and Devon Hall has hit 36.4% of his 55 attempts (20-for-55).  I wish we had found a way to get these guys more shots in the regular season, but at least they have proven themselves as relatively capable.  (I actually think that Shayok might be our Ron Mercer-esque secret weapon in this Tournament.)
  • No rim protection.  It's possible that a penetration-heavy team with the capacity to drive and dish could cut us to ribbons.
  • Playing our regional in front of hostile crowds in Chicago.  The committee really screwed us with this 1-seed in the Midwest.
  • A lack of motherfuckers.  Yeah, I'm being serious.  We have nice guys on this squad, and that's great.  They are a joy to watch play and fantastic representatives of this fine University.  But other than MAYBE London Perrantes, none of them are junkyard dogs.  None of them are stab-you-in-the-face motherfuckers.  And you need some motherfuckers to win these wars in March.

And finally, I'll leave you with this for today: My expectations for our dance is to hear the music end in the Elite Eight with a three-peat loss to Michigan State.  I hope I'm wrong.  Fuuuuuuuuuuck, I hope I'm wrong.


GO HOOS!






March 11, 2016

Spring Forward

I hqave about 10 minutes this afternoon to hammer out a quick post in advance of Selection Sunday, so here goes...

Tonight vs. Miami doesn't matter at all.  I mean, OF COURSE I'd like to see us win and advance to the ACCT championship game.  But a loss to the 'Canes isn't a bad loss by any stretch, and I'm totally comfortable with dropping down to a 2-seed for the NCAA Tournament.  Plus, a loss tonight allows us more rest to prepare for the NCAAT.  So it's okay if we drop this one tonight.  If we beat Miami, we need to go ahead and finish the job and beat UNC/Notre Dame tomorrow night.

Right now, we're right on the 1-seed/2-seed either/or line.  Win the ACCT, lock up a 1.  Lose tonight, it's a 2.  But what if we win tonight and then lose tomorrow?  I think that's probably a 2.

Once in the Big Dance, my only real hope is that we don't end up with the 2 in the same regional as Michigan State's 1, or vice versa.  I want to avoid Sparty until the Final Four or (better yet) the championship game.  I'm not a coward, just a realist.  We don't have enough Brogdons to shut down Valentine AND Forbes, and I think their supporting cast is better than our supporting cast.  Naturally, I want revenge on Michigan State, but discretion is the better part of valor.  Let's just avoid those fuckers and make some major hay in the tourney.

Other teams I'd like to see us avoid in the brackets:
  • Kansas in the Elite Eight -- Too much talent to counter.
  • Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen -- Their perimeter firepower scares me.
  • Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen -- They've had a tough season (by their standards), but they still have oodles of talent.  Plus, it's not a great matchup for us.  Perrantes can't counter Ulis' quickness.
  • Iowa State in the Sweet Sixteen -- It's an interesting contrast in styles, but the Cyclones' scoring punch could keep us off balance.
  • Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen -- Just because it would be extremely painful to see our season come to an end at their hands, if we lost.
  • Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen -- Just because of their talent, plus Sean Miller's coaching.  He's one of the few guys in this tourney who'd be able to match wits with Tony Bennett.
  • Wichita State in the 2nd round -- Like with Sparty, we don't have enough Brogdons to defend those two guards.
  • Providence in the 2nd round -- It's another double-headed dragon that could cause us problems.
  • Hawaii in the 1st round -- That team is tough and has some chutzpah.
  • Green Bay in the 1st round -- Because it'd be painful for Tony.

Of course, there's a flip-side to all of that.

Teams I'm licking my chops to see the Hoos play in the Big Dance:
  • Xavier in the Elite Eight -- Not because I think they're a bad team, but because if we get them, it means we effectively dodged Kansas and Michigan State.
  • Oklahoma in the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight -- It's a dream matchup for Virginia.  Brogdon shuts down Buddy Hield, and we blow them the fuck out.  (The same is true with any team that has one dominant scorer who isn't a big man.)
  • Oregon, anytime, anywhere -- Quack quack, motherfuckers.
  • Utah in the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight -- Poeltl is scary, but the packline can shut down any inside-out offense, an that's all Utah has.
  • Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen -- Mark me down as a person who does not believe in the Aggies (see also: Oregon).
  • Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen -- Can't have it both ways?  I'm having it both ways.  I relish the chance to end those assholes' season.
  • Iowa, Dayton, Seton Hall, Colorado, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Butler, St. Joseph's, Oregon State, St. Bonaventure, USC, and/or Temple in the 2nd round -- Cakewalk.
  • Cincinnati in the 2nd round -- Just because it'd be a fun little rockfight.
  • Wisconsin in the 2nd round -- So we can show them how it's REALLY done.
  • VCU in the 2nd round -- I'm not ready to forgive the Rams for Shaka Smart.
  • Texas in the 2nd round -- I'm not ready to forgive Shaka Smart.

Random predictions:
  • We beat Miami, lose to UNC.
  • I want the South (Louisville) or East (Philly) regional, but we'll somehow get screwed and sent out West (Anaheim).
  • We get Green Bay in the 1st round, the winner of Wisconsin/VCU in the 2nd round, and Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen.
  • As a reward, it's Xavier or Oklahoma in the Elite Eight, and we win by 20.
  • This is the season, Hoofans.  Final Four.
  • Joining us in Houston: Kansas (chalk), Michigan State (chalk), Arizona (pretty much chalk).  As the talking heads keep screaming at us, this tournament is wide-open, with so much parity and no dominant teams... but I just have a feeling we're not about to see a George Mason type of run.  Lots of seeded upsets on the first weekend, but then things settle down.
  • But if there IS a George Mason in this year's field, it's Little Rock.  Mark my words.

That's it for now.  I'll have some bracket reaction on Monday, I'd imagine.

GO HOOS!  Cut down those nets in DC!






March 7, 2016

Brogdon Wins All of the Awards.




Press release from VirginiaSports.com:

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia senior guard Malcolm Brogdon (Atlanta, Ga.) was named 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, announced by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association on Sunday (March 6).

Brogdon is the first player in league history to earn both honors in the same season. He is also the first Cavalier to earn ACC Player of the Year honors since Ralph Sampson won the award three consecutive seasons from 1981-83. Brogdon is the third Cavalier to earn ACC Player of the Year honors, joining Sampson and Barry Parkhill (1972).

In addition, Brogdon was named to the All-ACC First Team for the third consecutive season and ACC All-Defensive Team for the second straight season. Brogdon becomes the fourth Cavalier to earn three All-ACC first-team honors joining Sampson (1981-83), Bryant Stith (1990-92) and Sean Singletary (2006-08).

Senior forward Anthony Gill (High Point, N.C.) was named to the All-ACC Third Team for the second straight season, while junior guard London Perrantes (Los Angeles, Calif.) earned All-ACC honorable mention honors.

Brogdon has averaged a career-high 18.4 points and his 19.9 points per game in ACC play was the highest at UVA since 2007-08. He ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring and has 15 20-point games in 2015-16. Brogdon has led UVA in scoring 20 times in 30 games and has earned a pair of ACC Player of the Week honors. He ranks 12th at UVA with 1,687 career points.

Brogdon spearheads UVA's third-ranked defense which yields 59.6 points per game. He shared co-Defensive Player of the Year honors from the ACC coaches with former UVA forward Darion Atkins last season.

Gill ranks second in the ACC in field goal shooting (55.6%), 18th in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and 23rd in scoring (13.6 ppg). Perrantes leads the ACC in 3-point shooting at 50.8 percent and is averaging a career-best 11.2 points.

Joining Brogdon on the All-ACC first team were Brice Johnson (North Carolina), Anthony "Cat" Barber (NC State), Grayson Allen (Duke) and Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson). Brogdon and Johnson were unanimous selections.

Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Sheldon McClellan (Miami) , Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), Brandon Ingram (Duke) and Damion Lee (Louisville) were named to the All-ACC second team.

Marcus Georges-Hunt (Georgia Tech), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Michael Young (Pitt) and Angel Rodriguez (Miami) joined Gill on the All-ACC third team.

No. 2 seed Virginia (24-6) will play No. 7 seed Clemson (17-13) or No. 10 seed Georgia Tech (18-13) in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10. Tipoff at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., is set for 7 p.m. ET.


All-ACC First Team
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina (51), *255
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia (51), *255
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State (48), 249
Grayson Allen, So., Duke (47), 247
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson (32), 213

All-ACC Second Team
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse (8), 155
Sheldon McClellan, Sr., Miami (6), 136
Demetrius Jackson, Jr., Notre Dame (3), 130
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke (4), 129
Damion Lee, Sr., Louisville (1), 90

All-ACC Third Team
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., Georgia Tech, 76
Anthony Gill, Sr., Virginia, 70
Zach Auguste, Sr., Notre Dame, 45
Michael Young, Jr., Pittsburgh, 37
Angel Rodriguez, Sr., Miami (3), 35

All-ACC Honorable Mention
Justin Jackson, North Carolina
Tonye Jekiri, Miami Zach LeDay, Virginia Tech
Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
London Perrantes, Virginia
Devin Thomas, Wake Forest

ACC All-Freshman Team
Brandon Ingram, Duke, *51
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State, 50
Malik Beasley, Florida State, 49
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse, 34
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest, 28

ACC All-Defensive Team
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia, 49
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami, 39
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse, 36
Landry Nnoko, Sr., Clemson, 30
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville, 27

ACC Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia, 38
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina, 9
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State, 3
Grayson Allen, So., Duke, 1

ACC Freshman of the Year
Brandon Ingram, Duke, 48
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State, 1
Malik Beasley, Florida State, 1
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse, 1

ACC Coach of the Year
Jim LarraƱaga, Miami, 24
Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech, 22
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 2
Roy Williams, North Carolina, 1
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 1
Brian Gregory, Georgia Tech, 1

ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia, 39
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami, 9
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse, 1
Marshall Plumlee, Sr., Duke, 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville, 1

ACC Most Improved Player of the Year
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson, 21
Grayson Allen, So., Duke, 15
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State, 4
Zach LeDay, Jr., Virginia Tech, 4
Ja'Quan Newton, So., Miami, 2
Joel Berry, So., North Carolina, 2
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., Georgia Tech, 1
Dennis Clifford, Sr., Boston College, 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville, 1

ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Isaiah Hicks, Jr., North Carolina, 19
Ja'Quan Newton, So., Miami, 12
Luke Kennard, Fr., Duke, 7
Tyler Lydon, Fr., Syracuse, 6
Devon Bookert, Sr., Florida State, 6
Sheldon Jeter, Jr., Pittsburgh, 1

* unanimous selection
(first place votes)