The reigning ACC Player of the Year is being picked to go back-to-back.

UNC guard R.J. Davis was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Tuesday, and given a spot on the conference’s preseason All-ACC First Team as well. The Tar Heels were picked to finish 2nd in the preseason media poll.

 

Davis is coming off an outstanding 2023-24 season, one which saw him lead the ACC in scoring at 21.2 points per game and shooting 39.8 percent on three-pointers. Davis scored 30 or more points four times, set new career scoring highs not once (36 points against Wake Forest) but twice (42 against Miami), the latter of which is the all-time scoring record for any player in the history of the Smith Center. Davis is the first Tar Heel to score 40 points since Harrison Barnes in 2011, and the first to do so in a non-overtime game since Tyler Hansbrough in 2008.

In the preseason poll, Carolina only trails No. 1 Duke, who received 42 of the 54 first-place votes. No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Virginia round out the top of the field. ACC debutantes SMU, Cal, Stanford and were picked 13th, 16th and 17th, respectively. For a full look at the preseason poll, click here.

Carolina will play in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip-Off Classic charity exhibition in Memphis on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Nick Wass

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