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Now, the biggest individual awards start coming.

With the regular season champions decided in men’s (and women’s) basketball among the Power 6 conferences, the highest player honors will be next. And while the ACC’s Player of the Year is a foregone conclusion for Carolina’s deserving R.J. Davis, there is a subplot brewing.

Out west, Caleb Love is capping off a great season with Arizona, and seems to be the favorite for Pac-12 Player of the Year. Wouldn’t it be something if No. 2 joined No. 4 with his selection? And both are in the running for All-American teams that will be announced this week.

The former Carolina backcourt emerged nationally by splitting up.

Davis upped his game to lead the ACC in scoring with a 21.06 average. He finished out of double figures (9 points) for only the second time this season but nevertheless helped the Tar Heels win the ACC race with a sweep of Duke.

Love is fourth in the Pac 12 with an 18.7 average, which dipped after Arizona had already clinched the regular season title but lost at Southern Cal as Caleb scored 2 points, shot 1 for 10 and 0 for 6 from three vs. the Trojans.

That Carolina had a surprising season with a Love-less roster was some factor in Davis being so award-worthy, but his individual play would have put him in the race wherever the Tar Heels finished. He set a Smith Center scoring mark of 42 points against Miami along with multiple other records.

In the latest NET rankings, which helps the NCAA Selection Committee determine seeds for the upcoming tournament, Arizona is No. 4 and remains on the top line for a projected No. 1 seed in one of the four regions. With the win at Duke, Carolina climbed to No. 7 and is solidly on the second line.

Depending on what happens at the conference tournaments this weekend in Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, that could change. For the Wildcats and Tar Heels to meet before the Final Four, they would have to be in the same region.

As ACC Player of the Year, Davis is a lock for first-team all-conference and at mid-season was projected on most of the first-team All-American lists. Love is also assured first-team All-Pac 12 but only showed sporadically on A-A predictions.

Another big question is whether Armando Bacot makes first-team All-ACC for the third straight year. UNC’s all-time leading rebounder is averaging double figures in scoring and on the glass. It will be hard to leave him off the first team even though he has become less dominant.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.

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