By R.L. Bynum
For the first time in 26 years and the fifth time in school history, the ACC’s player and coach of the year are Tar Heels.
RJ Davis is the ACC Player of the Year and Hubert Davis is the ACC Coach of the Year, with the league announcing postseason awards on Monday. Armando Bacot made All-ACC second team as well as All-Defensive Team. Harrison Ingram, the ACC Player of the Week, earned third-team honors.
The honor means that RJ Davis’ No. 4 jersey will honored in the Smith Center rafters.
It is the first time three Tar Heels earned All-ACC honors since Cameron Johnson (first team), Luke Maye (second) and Coby White (second) in 2018–19.
RJ Davis, a senior guard, leads the ACC in scoring (21.1 points per game), is second in 3-pointers per game (3.1), third in free-throw percentage (88.6%) and fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (41.6%).
“First and foremost, I just wanted to have a great senior year, especially with how last year went,” RJ Davis, who easily beat out second-place Kyle Filipowski of Duke in the voting 68-3, said in a Monday interview on ACC Network. “Just wanted to come into the year and how would I leave my legacy behind?”
Davis, UNC’s all-time career free-throw percentage leader at 86.1%, well ahead of Shamond Williams’ 84.8%, didn’t even make the preseason All-ACC second team and got no votes for Preseason Player of the Year.
“Obviously, the little list motivated me a little bit,” Davis said of the preseason slight. “I felt like I deserved to be on it. But I’ve always said that wars are won at the end of the year. And I’m not gonna get too much too much into that. It’s more about I control the things I can control and what that was was my play, my mindset and have my approach goes to my senior year.”
RJ Davis is a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nation’s most outstanding player, and for the Jerry West Award for the top shooting guard in the country. Davis has scored at least 20 points 19 times this season, the most by a Tar Heel since Justin Jackson also had 19 in 40 games in 2016–17, which also marked UNC’s last ACC Player of the Year honoree.
He admitted that he might get a little emotional after the interview was over.
“I know how much hard work and time I put in this offseason and what I wanted my senior year to look like,” Davis said. “To win this award means everything to me. But I still have a lot left to accomplish.”
Davis is on pace to become the first Tar Heel to lead the ACC in scoring since Tyler Hansbrough in 2007–08 and record UNC’s highest scoring average since Hansbrough averaged 22.6 that same season.
RJ Davis is the 53rd UNC player to earn first-team All-ACC honors (a total of 81 first-team awards, the most in league history).
Hubert Davis, in his third season as head coach, guided the Tar Heels to the regular-season title after a media panel picked them in the preseason to finish third, with UNC only garnering one first-place vote. Davis beat out Pittsburgh’s Jeff Capel in the voting 49-12.
“It was an award for all of us,” Coach Davis said Monday on his radio show. “I’m just really proud of this group.”
Hubert Davis is the fifth Tar Heel to win ACC Coach of the Year honors (a total of 13 times), joining Frank McGuire, Dean Smith (eight times), Bill Guthridge and Roy Williams (2006 and 2011).
Carolina made the Final Four three of the previous four times UNC swept those awards.
It’s the first sweep since the 1997–98 Final Four season, when Antawn Jamison was Player of the Year and Guthridge was Coach of the Year in his first season as head coach. The Tar Heels went 34–4 and lost to Utah in a national semifinal.
It also happened in:
— 1975–76: Dean Smith and Mitch Kupchak | team won regular-season ACC title and finished 25–4
— 1967–68: Smith and Larry Miller | team won ACC regular-season and tournament titles, finished 28–4 and made the NCAA championship game
— 1956–57: Frank McGuire and Lennie Rosenbluth | team went 32–0 and won the ACC regular-season, ACC tournament and NCAA titles.
Hubert Davis is the first UNC ACC Coach of the Year since Roy Williams in 2010–11 when Carolina won the regular-season title and finished 29–8.
It’s the second time in three years one school has swept both awards after Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes and Alondes Williams earned the respective coach and player honors in 2021–22.
Bacot finished third in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year, which went to Virginia’s Reece Beekman for the second straight season.
Bacot earned All-ACC honors for a third time (first team in 2022 and 2023) and his first recognition on the defensive team. He has anchored a Tar Heel defense that is holding teams to 40.4% from the floor, including 31.3% from 3-point range, and 70.1 points per game (68.2 in ACC play).
Ingram finished fourth in voting for Most Improved Player, which went to Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin. Ingram, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while at Stanford, earned third-team All-ACC honors in his first season as a Tar Heel.
Ingram, a Dallas native, led the ACC in rebounding in conference games (10.9 per game). He leads UNC in steals (46), is second on the team in rebounding (9.3 in all games) and offensive boards (2.7) and is third in scoring (12.5), three-pointers (52) and assists (67).
Ingram has nine of his 11 double-doubles in conference play, grabbed 15 or more rebounds four times, including 19 at N.C. State (most by a Tar Heel vs. the Wolfpack) and has the highest rebounding average for a player his size (6–7) since Miller in 1967. Ingram has scored 20 or more points five times — against Villanova, Tennessee, UConn, Duke and N.C. State.
Seth Trimble was third in the Sixth Man of the Year voting. That award went to Pitt’s Ismael Leggett.
Elliot Cadeau was the overwhelming preseason rookie of the year pick, but that honor went to Notre Dame’s Markus Burton. Cadeau did make the All-Rookie Team
ACC awards
All-ACC
First Team
Name, School, Points
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 373
P.J. Hall, Clemson, 363
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 346
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 292
Blake Hinson, Pitt, 280
Second Team
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 271
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 263
Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 219
Norchad Omier, Miami, 172
Quinten Post, Boston College, 135
THIRD TEAM
D.J. Horne, N.C. State, 109
Harrison Ingram, North Carolina, 91
Jeremy Roach, Duke, 85
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 69
Sean Pedulla, Virginia Tech, 62
HONORABLE MENTION
Joseph Girard III, Clemson, 54
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 47
Jared McCain, Duke, 29
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 24
Miles Kelly, Georgia Tech, 16
Carlton Carrington, Pitt, 12
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Louisville, 10
Ryan Dunn, Virginia, 10
Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5–3–1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).
Player of the Year
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 68 votes
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 3
PJ Hall, Clemson, 2
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 1
Quinten Post, Boston College, 1
Defensive Player of the Year
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 43 votes
Ryan Dunn, Virginia, 19
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 4
Maliq Brown, Syracuse, 4
Quinten Post, Boston College, 2
Jaeden Zackery, Boston College, 1
Jack Clark, Clemson, 1
Quadir Copeland, Syracuse, 1
Rookie of the Year
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 46 votes
Jared McCain, Duke, 20
|Carlton Carrington, Pitt, 5
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 2
Caleb Foster, Duke, 1
Kyshawn George, Miami, 1
Most Improved Player
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 30 votes
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 18
Lynn Kidd, Virginia Tech, 12
Harrison Ingram, North Carolina, 5
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Louisville, 3
Maliq Brown, Syracuse, 3
Devin McGlockton, Boston College, 3
Isaac McKneely, Virginia, 1
Sixth Man Of the Year
Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 33 votes
Quadir Copeland, Syracuse, 20
Seth Trimble, North Carolina, 6
Kyle Sturdivant, Georgia Tech, 5
Mason Madsen, Boston College, 4
Primo Spears, Florida State, 4
Caleb Foster, Duke, 3
Coach of the Year
Hubert Davis, North Carolina, 49 votes
Jeff Capel, Pitt, 12
Adrian Autry, Syracuse, 6
Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame, 3
Jon Scheyer, Duke, 2
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 1
Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech, 1
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 1
All-Defensive Team
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 73 votes
Ryan Dunn, Virginia, 65
Maliq Brown, Syracuse, 48
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 26
Quinten Post, Boston College, 21
All-Rookie Team
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 73 votes
Jared McCain, Duke, 73
Carlton Carrington, Pitt, 65
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 60
Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina, 39
ACC coaches of the year from UNC
Frank McGuire: 1957
Dean Smith: 1967, 1968, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1993
Bill Guthridge: 1998
Roy Williams: 2006, 2011
Hubert Davis: 2024
ACC players of the year from UNC
Lennie Rosenbluth: 1957
Pete Brennan: 1958
Lee Shaffer: 1960
Billy Cunningham: 1965
Larry Miller: 1967, 1968
Mitch Kupchak: 1976
Phil Ford: 1978
Michael Jordan: 1984
Antawn Jamison: 1998
Joseph Forte: 2001 (co-winner)
Tyler Hansbrough: 2008
Ty Lawson: 2009
Tyler Zeller: 2012
Justin Jackson: 2017
RJ Davis: 2024
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
tarheeltribune.com 
