R.J. Davis, welcome to the rafters.

The UNC senior guard was named the 2023-24 ACC Player of the Year on Monday, making him the first Tar Heel to win the honor since Justin Jackson did so in 2017. With his win, Davis is guaranteed to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center.

Davis put together an outstanding season for the Tar Heels, leading the ACC in scoring at 21.1 points per game and shooting 41.6 percent on three-pointers. The regular season saw Davis score 30 points three 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.

Davis is the 15th player in the history of the UNC men’s basketball program to win ACC Player of the Year (Larry Miller won the award twice), and the sixth to do so since 2000. Joseph Forte (2001), Hansbrough (2008), Ty Lawson (2009), Tyler Zeller (2012) and Jackson are the others. Only Duke (18) has more ACC Player of the Year honorees in program history.

Davis is joined on the All-ACC first team by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, Clemson’s P.J. Hall, Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis and Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson. Armando Bacot was named to the second team and Harrison Ingram to the third team. Bacot was also named to the All-Defensive Team and Elliot Cadeau was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Davis and the Tar Heels will begin postseason play in the ACC Tournament on Thursday in the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed. Carolina is seeking its first ACC Tournament title since 2016.

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