Ben McCormick February 20, 2022
As the regular season enters its final two weeks, media members are beginning to consider how they will vote for the conferences awards. The awards are typically given out the Sunday or Monday following the last day of regular season games, which this year is Saturday March 5th. The Blue Devils are poised to rake in more awards than any other team, and have a rather high number of recipients.
In years past, the Blue Devils have two or three players that receive an ACC award of some kind, but this year it appears the young Devils are primed for five. Duke's Paolo Banchero, Wendell Moore Jr, Mark Williams, AJ Griffin, and Trevor Keels all have high chances at landing awards. Banchero is squarely in the conversation for ACC Player of the Year, but his play of late may cause him to fall short to Wake Forest veteran Alondes Williams. Still, Banchero appears to be a lock for first team All-ACC. Banchero is the clear frontrunner for rookie of the year, and even if he stopped playing today he would win no questions asked. AJ Griffin and Trevor Keels look to join Banchero on first team all rookie. Griffin (All-ACC) and Keels (All-Defense) are within reach of collecting honors beyond the all freshman team as well. Team captain Wendell Moore Jr. looks like an All-ACC lock, the only question is whether he will land on first or second team (my guess is second team). Moore is also in the conversation for most improved player, but certainly not the favorite (that would be NC State's Dereon Seabron). And finally, Mark Williams appears to be the frontrunner for ACC Defensive Player of the Year and may add an All-ACC selection to his hardware.
My official projections are that Paolo Banchero who is putting up 16.9 PPG (6th in ACC) and 8.4 RPG (3rd in ACC) will be named to 1st team All-ACC and unanimously win ACC ROY (and subsequently be 1st team All-Freshman). Wendell Moore Jr, who is averaging 13.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.6 APG (3rd in ACC), and 1.6 SPG (9th in ACC) on solid shooting splits (including 40% 3pt) will be named to 2nd team All-ACC. Defensive standout Mark Williams will take home ACC DPOY (and 1st team All-Defense) as a result of his ACC best 2.9 BPG. Williams will also find his way on 3rd team All-ACC (Mark is shooting an ACC best 71.7% FG). While I have AJ Griffin (shooting an ACC best 48.5% from 3) as the first honorable mention off of third team, I think it is likely the Blue Devils get four All-ACC nods. Still, Griffin will be 1st team All-Freshman, as will Trevor Keels. The freshman guard Keels will be in play for a spot on the All-Defense team as well.
Here is my full ACC award projection as of February 20, 2022:
Player of the Year: Alondes Williams - Wake Forest
Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Williams - Duke
Freshman of the Year: Paolo Banchero - Duke
Most Improved Player: Dereon Seabron - NC State
Coach of the Year: Steve Forbes - Wake Forest
1st Team All-ACC
Alondes Williams - Wake Forest
Paolo Banchero - Duke
Armando Bacot - North Carolina
Kameron McGusty - Miami
Dereon Seabron - NC State
2nd Team All-ACC
Wendell Moore Jr. - Duke
Jake LaRavia - Wake Forest
Dane Goodwin - Notre Dame
Isaiah Wong - Miami
Buddy Boeheim - Syracuse
3rd Team All ACC
Keve Aluma - Virginia Tech
Michael Devoe - Georgia Tech
Mark Williams - Duke
Blake Wesley - Notre Dame
PJ Hall - Clemson
Honorable Mentions: AJ Griffin (Duke) and Caleb Love (North Carolina)
All-Defense
Mark Williams - Duke
Reece Beekman - Virginia
Leaky Black - North Carolina
Charlie Moore - Miami
Trevor Keels - Duke
All-Freshman
Paolo Banchero - Duke
Blake Wesley - Notre Dame
AJ Griffin - Duke
Terquavion Smith - NC State
Trevor Keels - Duke
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