This part isn’t as much fun.
Seriously, sometimes there are two (occasionally more) truly brilliant candidates for the same individual ACC basketball award, and I end up feeling bad for the runner-up. The time and effort that typically goes into being the best of the best is extraordinary and deserves celebration.
The worst part is nitpicking the top candidates, in an earnest attempt to explain your vote, knowing that the facts may justify 10 important compliments for every relevant imperfection.
For the majority of my 2022 All-ACC ballot, including my basic philosophy on the various awards and honors, please see my post from yesterday.
Here’s the rest of my ballot:
Player of the Year
Armando Bacot, Jr., North Carolina
Are you ready for some stunning superlatives?
Wake Forest legend Tim Duncan is the only ACC player in the last 50 years who averaged more points and rebounds and shot a higher field goal percentage than Bacot did for the Tar Heels during the 2021-22 regular season.
Bacot, UNC’s 6-10, 240-pound junior center, posted these stellar numbers: 16.6 points per game (seventh in the ACC), 12.5 rebounds per game (third nationally, by far the best in the ACC) and 59.5 percent shooting (13th nationally, by far the best in the ACC). During the regular season, he also led the ACC in offensive rebounds (118) and defensive rebounds (269), and he was third in free throw attempts (162) and fifth in blocked shots (54).
With Carolina in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in almost 50 years, Bacot delivered a dominant performance (23 points, 10-of-11 from the field, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals) against National Defensive Player of the Year finalist Mark Williams as the Heels stunned #4 Duke 94-81 Saturday night at a super-charged Cameron Indoor Stadium, which was celebrating Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game.
“Bacot has been the player of the year in our conference,” Coach K said after the game, “and he showed that today.”
A team captain, Bacot finished the regular season with 23 double-doubles (points and rebounds), the third-best total nationally during the regular season. With one more double-double (yes, postseason statistics count), Bacot will break a tie with Brice Johnson (23 in 2016) for the highest single-season total in Carolina history.
The only other players in ACC history to lead the league in field goal percentage, rebounding and double-doubles in a single season were Virginia center Ralph Sampson (1983), Clemson forward Horace Grant (1987), Clemson forward Dale Davis (1990), Duncan (1997) and Duke forward Marvin Bagley (2018). All but Davis won the ACC Player of the Year honor that year.
Meanwhile, Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams may be in the midst of an accomplishment that would be truly unprecedented in ACC history. However that pursuit ends, he’s an absolutely worthy candidate for the ACC Player of the Year honor, too. It’s really that close.
Since the NCAA adopted “assists” as an official statistical category almost 50 years ago, no player has ever led the ACC in both points per game and assists per game in the same season. Williams is oh-so-close to doing exactly that.
Again, postseason statistics DO count for such things, so this story is ongoing. Williams is virtually guaranteed to win the ACC assist title (he’s at 5.3 per game and has 17 more assists than the closest pursuer), and he is neck-and-neck with Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim for the league’s scoring title. Entering the ACC Tournament, Boeheim has 599 points in 31 games (19.3 ppg), and Williams has 598 points in 31 games (19.3 ppg).
One of the only flaws in Bacot’s game this season was that he was one of the more foul-prone players in the ACC, and that limited his minutes and/or effectiveness in several UNC losses. One of the only flaws in Williams’ game was his turnovers; he had far more (114) than any other ACC player, and that bad habit bit the Demon Deacons in a number of their defeats.
More context: UNC played one of the tougher schedules among ACC teams, while Wake Forest played against by far the weakest schedule (especially non-conference) of any ACC team. The Tar Heels likely guaranteed themselves an at-large NCAA Tournament bid (if needed) with their win at Duke, while the Demon Deacons may need a couple victories at the ACC Tournament to earn a trip to the Big Dance, the ultimate litmus test for a successful regular season.
At this point, of course, it’s splitting hairs. It would be easy to defend a vote for either player.
Other Viable Candidates: Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams, Duke forward Paolo Banchero.
Defensive Player of the Year
Mark Williams, So., Duke
The ACC’s only National Defensive Player of the Year finalist, Williams was the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the ACC.
For those who like traditional statistics, Williams led the ACC in blocked shots with 87 (2.8 per game) during the regular season; nobody else had more than 67. For those who appreciate advanced metrics, he also led the league in defensive rating (89.4) and defensive box plus-minus (5.1). His presence loomed large over every Duke defensive half-court possession.
Virginia guard Reece Beekman, among others, also has played truly spectacular defense this season. He led the ACC in steals per game (2.1) and was second to Williams in defensive box plus-minus (4.9) during the regular season. He routinely took on the opponent’s top perimeter scorer, and he typically turned them into mere shadows of themselves.
My ultimate tiebreaker here was that Duke would have had no chance to be the best defensive team in the ACC without Williams. (The Blue Devils were #1 among ACC teams in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings.) His post presence enabled his teammates to be more aggressive against opponents’ perimeter shooters (the Devils limited their ACC opponents to a league-best 29.2 percent on 3-pointers), and he tended to lock down the defensive boards, too.
UVa, meanwhile, was NOT a great defensive team this season. Yes, the Cavaliers limited their opponents to an ACC-best 63.1 points per game, but that was much more a reflection of their extremely slow tempo (truly, 358th out of 358 Division I teams) and style of play. In KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings, the Cavs ranked in the middle of the ACC pack this season.
Other viable candidates (for the five-man ACC All-Defense Team): Virginia guard Reece Beekman, UNC forward Leaky Black, Duke guard Wendell Moore, Jr., Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts, Virginia center Kadin Shedrick, Syracuse center Jesse Edwards, Wake Forest forward Jake LaRavia, Miami guard Kameron McGusty, Virginia guard Kihei Clark, Pitt center Mouhamadou Gueye.
All-ACC First Team
Armando Bacot, Jr., North Carolina
Alondes Williams, Sr., Wake Forest
Paolo Banchero, Fr., Duke
Jake LaRavia, Jr., Wake Forest
Kameron McGusty, Sr., Miami
All-ACC Second Team
Keve Aluma, Sr., Virginia Tech
Mark Williams, So., Duke
Dereon Seabron, So., NC State
Wendell Moore Jr., Jr., Duke
Paul Atkinson, Sr., Notre Dame
All-ACC Third Team
Jayden Gardner, Sr., Virginia
Buddy Boeheim, Sr., Syracuse
Dane Goodwin, Sr., Notre Dame
Michael Devoe, Sr., Georgia Tech
Brady Manek, Sr., North Carolina
Other Viable Candidates: Miami guard Isaiah Wong, UNC guard RJ Davis, Clemson forward PJ Hall, Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts, Georgia Tech forward Jordan Usher.
The season stats for David Glenn’s All-ACC picks.
Next time: Do the facts support this year’s “ACC is down” narrative?
David Glenn (DavidGlennShow.com, @DavidGlennShow) is an award-winning author, broadcaster, editor, entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, writer and university lecturer (now at UNC Wilmington) who has covered sports in North Carolina since 1987.
The founding editor and long-time owner of the ACC Sports Journal and ACCSports.com, he also has contributed to the Durham Herald-Sun, ESPN Radio, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Raycom Sports, SiriusXM and most recently The Athletic. From 1999-2020, he also hosted the David Glenn Show, which became the largest sports radio program in the history of the Carolinas, syndicated in more than 300 North Carolina cities and towns, plus parts of South Carolina and Virginia.
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