Duke sophomore Mark Williams has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Paolo Banchero has been named the ACC Freshman of the Year as the conference’s postseason awards were announced Monday.
Banchero also earned a spot on the All-ACC First Team, while junior Wendell Moore Jr., garnered second-team honors, Williams was named to the third team and freshman AJ Griffin earned honorable mention honors. Banchero, Griffin and Trevor Keels were each tapped to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Williams and Moore earned two of the five spots on the All-Defensive Team.
A member of the Wooden Award National Ballot, Banchero becomes the 13th ACC Freshman of the Year in Duke history and eighth in the last 11 years. The Seattle, Wash., native ranks sixth in the league in scoring (17.1), fourth in rebounding (7.8) and 14th in field goal percentage (.463) while leading all ACC rookies in each category. He has logged eight double-doubles and 12 games of 20+ points – each the second-most among power conference true freshmen.
Banchero is Duke’s 76th All-ACC First Team selection, which ranks second in conference history, and the 51st player to have earned first-team status under head coach Mike Krzyzewski – the league’s most such honors in the Coach K era. Duke has now had at least one first-team pick in 15 consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the conference and the second longest in ACC history.
Williams becomes the third Blue Devil (four honors) to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year accolades, joining Shelden Williams in 2005 and 2006, DeMarcus Nelson in 2008 and Tre Jones in 2020. The Virginia Beach, Va., native leads the league and ranks 11th nationally in blocked shots per game (2.81), while his 87 total rejections are the sixth-most in the NCAA. He has 25 multi-block games this season, the fourth-most nationally and second-most among power conference players.
The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist is also eighth in the ACC in rebounding (7.2) and third in conference-only games (7.9). He has eight double-doubles, including three in his last six contests.
Moore picked up his first career All-ACC honor after increasing his totals in scoring, rebounding, assists, field goal shooting and three-point shooting from last season. He is one of two power conference players – alongside ACC Player of the Year, Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams – averaging 13.0+ points, 5.0+ rebounds and 4.0+ assists while shooting .500+ from the field. The Charlotte, N.C., native is third in the conference in assists (4.7), 11th in steals (1.5) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (+2.29). Moore has registered 12 games this season with 10+ points, 5+ boards and 5+ assists, the third-most nationally and most among power conference players.
Banchero, Griffin and Keels give Duke 34 All-Freshman selections, the most in conference history. A native of Ossining, N.Y., Griffin is averaging 10.3 points on .509 from the field and .483 from three-point range. He increased those numbers to 16.1 points, .557 field goal efficiency and .556 from behind the arc over the Blue Devils’ eight-game road winning streak to close the regular season. After averaging just 13.2 minutes in the first 11 contests, Griffin played 27.9 per game and was Duke’s second leading scorer (12.6) in ACC play.
Keels ranks third in the ACC and fourth among true freshmen nationally in assist/turnover ratio (+2.50). He is Duke’s third leading scorer at 12.3 points per game and has three 20+ point games, including two in conference play. The two-time ACC Freshman of the Week netted 25 on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds and no turnovers at Clemson on Feb. 10, and had a career-high 27 with five three-pointers last Tuesday at Pittsburgh.
Wake’s Steve Forbes was voted the ACC Coach of the Year, while NC State’s Dereon Seabron was named Most Improved Player and Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland took home Sixth Man of the Year. Banchero was joined on the All-ACC First Team by Alondes Williams, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, Miami’s Kameron McGusty and Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim.
Voting for the league’s annual postseason awards was done by the ACC’s head coaches and a panel of media that cover the conference.
2021-22 ACC Award Winners
Player of Year: Alondes Williams, Wake Forest
Rookie of Year: Paolo Banchero, Duke
Coach of Year: Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Defensive Player of Year: Mark Williams, Duke
Most Improved Player: Dereon Seabron, NC State
Sixth Man of Year: Matthew Cleveland, Florida State
2021-22 All-ACC Team
First Team
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 380
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest, 373
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 372
Kameron McGusty, Miami, 315
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 241
Second Team
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 192
Dereon Seabron, NC State, 166
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 161
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 148
Jake LaRavia, Wake Forest, 147
Third Team
Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame, 131
Mark Williams, Duke, 119
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 119
Jayden Gardner, Virginia, 106
Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech, 105
Honorable Mention
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 84
PJ Hall, Clemson, 72
John Hugley, Pitt, 54
Charlie Moore, Miami, 42
Brady Manek, North Carolina, 38
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 22
AJ Griffin, Duke, 22
Paul Atkinson Jr., Notre Dame, 20
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 15
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 15
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).
ACC Player of the Year
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest, 41 votes
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 31
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 6
ACC Freshman of the Year
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 72 votes
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 4
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 1
Trevor Keels, Duke, 1
ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Mark Williams, Duke, 46 votes
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 20
Leaky Black, North Carolina, 7
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 3
Charlie Moore, Miami, 2
ACC Most Improved Player
Dereon Seabron, NC State, 33 votes
PJ Hall, Clemson, 28
Mark Williams, Duke, 4
John Hugley, Pitt, 4
Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame, 3
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse, 2
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 2
James Karnik, Boston College, 1
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 1
ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Matthew Cleveland, Florida State, 52 votes
El Ellis, Louisville, 6
Anthony Walker, Miami, 6
Khadim Sy, Wake Forest, 6
Kadin Shedrick, Virginia, 5
Quinten Post, Boston College, 2
Cam Hayes, NC State, 1
ACC Coach of the Year
Steve Forbes, Wake Forest, 40 votes
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke, 19
Mike Brey, Notre Dame, 13
Jim Larrañaga, Miami, 3
Mike Young, Virginia Tech, 1
Hubert Davis, North Carolina, 1
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 1
All-ACC Defensive Team
Mark Williams, Duke, 77 votes
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 69
Leaky Black, North Carolina, 55
Charlie Moore, Miami, 45
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 33
All-Rookie Team
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 77 votes
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 73
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 72
AJ Griffin, Duke, 66
Trevor Keels, Duke, 50
