Early voting hurt Armando’s chances for Player of the Year.

I’ve always hated how the ACC handles its all-conference voting, especially Player of the Year. All the way back to 1969, when South Carolina’s John Roche beat Charlie Scott for Player of the Year, the votes were already in when Scott scored 40 points against Duke in the ACC tournament championship win.

Yes, the tourney has its own MVP, which Scott won that year, but shouldn’t it also count for deciding who is the best player in the ACC? The same should apply to the regular season.
When league play started, it soon became a three-man race between Duke freshman Paolo Banchero, Wake Forest surprise star Alondes Williams and Bacot, who was becoming Mr. Double-Double for the Tar Heels.

But since schools cannot nominate players for multiple awards, Duke chose to push Banchero for Rookie of the Year, which he would win easily instead of splitting votes and maybe losing POY. Williams became the sentimental favorite since he came out of nowhere, playing his fifth year for his third school.

But how do you not wait until the regular season is over? Bacot was one of Carolina’s key stars in upsetting fourth-ranked Duke in Durham, with 23 points and 7 rebounds in 30 minutes. Shame on those voters who sent their ballots in early.

Bacot has shown dramatic improvement in his three years in Chapel Hill, and he is on the way to becoming the all-time seasonal leader for double doubles at UNC. The Tar Heels are not a dominating rebounding team like in recent years, and imagine where they would be without Bacot’s 12.5 per game?

Hopefully, the big guy will use it as motivation in the ACC tournament. He has to be asking himself, “How I am the leading vote-getter for first team All-ACC (with 380) and not be the Player of the Year?” He is the leading rebounder by almost 5 per game, 7th in scoring, 1st in FG percentage, 6th in blocks.

His team lost to Wake Forest in their one meeting, but the Heels finished higher in the ACC standings than the Deacons, and that certainly should count for something.

 

Photo via Todd Melet.

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