By R.L. Bynum

RJ Davis on Tuesday became the 15th player in Carolina men’s basketball history to earn first-team AP All-America honors.

Davis previously was similarly honored by The Sporting News, ESPN.com and Dick Vitale. The AP and The Sporting News are half the teams that determine consensus All-Americas, with the other two — the NABC (coaches) and USBWA (media) — announced on Wednesday.

Davis is joined on the first team by Purdue’s 7–4 center Zach Edey, Tennessee’s 6–6 guard Dalton Knecht, Houston’s 6–1 guard Jamal Shead and UConn’s 6–5 guard Tristen Newton. Edey was voted first team on all 62 ballots, followed by Knecht with 56 and Davis with 55.

Davis already had earned the right to have his jersey honored in the Smith Center rafters by being named ACC Player of the Year (first-team All-American is another criteria). One way to get his jersey retired is to earn National Player of the Year. But, judging from the All-American team voting, that award will likely go to Edey.

The White Plains, N.Y., senior is the ACC’s leading scorer and ACC Player of the Year after averaging a league-best 21.4 points per game and has led the No. 5 Tar Heels (27–7) to a No. 1 seed in the West Regional. UNC faces Howard or Wagner in the first round at 2:45 Thursday at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (CBS).

“RJ has been our closer, and in [close games] it’s a huge luxury to know you can put the ball in our guard’s hands and he’ll either make the right shot or make the right play,” said Armando Bacot, a third-team selection last season who earned honorable mention.

Duke’s Kyle Filipowski made the second team and Arizona’s Caleb Love made third team.

Davis is the first UNC player to earn AP first-team All-America honors since Justin Jackson in 2016–17. Phil Ford, Michael Jordan and Tyler Hansbrough each made the AP first team twice, giving UNC first-team picks 18 times.

Davis is sixth in UNC scoring with 2,030 points, the second-most by a guard behind Phil Ford’s 2,290. He’s the only Tar Heel with 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 3-pointers, and 100 steals. Davis is UNC’s all-time leader in free-throw percentage (85.7%), second in 3-pointers (267), and 16th in assists (423).

Davis is one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award, which goes to the nation’s top shooting guard.

UNC first-team All-Americans

Lennie Rosenbluth, 1957
Pete Brennan, 1958
Larry Miller, 1968
Phil Ford, 1977 and 1978
Michael Jordan, 1983 and 1984
Sam Perkins, 1984
Kenny Smith, 1987
J.R. Reid, 1988
Jerry Stackhouse, 1995
Antawn Jamison, 1998
Joseph Forte, 2001
Tyler Hansbrough, 2008 and 2009
Brice Johnson, 2016
Justin Jackson, 2017
RJ Davis, 2024

West Regional

March 19 First Four result
No. 16 Wagner 71, No. 16 Howard 68
First-round results
Thursday, March 21
No. 9 Michigan State 69, No. 8 Mississippi State 51
No. 1 North Carolina 90, Wagner 62
No. 2 Arizona 85, No. 15 Long Beach State 65
No. 7 Dayton 63, No. 10 Nevada 60
Friday, March 22
No. 4 Alabama 109, No. 13 College of Charleston 96
No. 12 Grand Canyon 75, No. 5 St. Mary’s 66
No. 3 Baylor 92, No. 14 Colgate 67
No. 6 Clemson 77, No. 11 New Mexico 56
Last Saturday’s second-round results
Arizona 78, Dayton 68
North Carolina 85, Michigan State 69
Sunday’s second-round results
Clemson 72, Baylor 64
Alabama 72, Grand Canyon 61
Thursday’s regional semifinals
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
Clemson 77, Arizona 72
Alabama 98, North Carolina 87
Saturday’s regional final
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
Alabama 89, Clemson 82

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