LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This is more than conference tournament week and NCAA Tournament bid-stealing week in college basketball.
It’s awards week, too.
The Big East jumped the line Sunday, announcing its all-conference teams, with player of the year and coach of the year (Rick Pitino of St. John’s) to follow.
The Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and Big Ten conferences will follow this week before conference tournament play begins in Charlotte (ACC), Nashville (SEC) and Indianapolis (Big Ten). The Associated Press has already collected ballots for its all-league teams.
That makes it time to jump into the statistics, analytics and video to make my ACC selections.
No reason to delay.
Duke freshman Cooper Flagg reacts to a call in the first half of a win over Louisville in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 8, 2024.
FIRST TEAM
F - Cooper Flagg, Duke — If you’re the best player in the country, you’re first team all ACC. Top 10 in the league in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Crown him.
F - Kon Knueppel, Duke — Look past the 13.7 scoring average and make a note that Knueppel is the ACC’s second-rated player at EvanMiya.com, third at BartTorvik.com and fourth at KenPom.com. That tells me he’s doing many things right, like playing with a low turnover rate, making 40% of his shots from distance, 57% of his two-point field goals and better than 91% of his free throws. Winner.
C - Maxime Raynaud, Stanford — Watching Raynaud struggle in the first half against Louisville Saturday made me wonder about this pick. But he picked it up in the second half (without much assistance) and showed he was a thoroughly modern big man who can pull his defender away from the rim. He’s the only ACC player to average a double double.
G - Chucky Hepburn Louisville — U of L fans embraced Hepburn as warmly as they have embraced any player since Donovan Mitchell or maybe Russ Smith. The ultimate winner, Hepburn scores when he needs to score, sprays the ball to his teammates and makes certain the opposing point guard has a miserable day.
G - Chase Hunter Clemson — Hunter did not make as many three-point shots as Reyne Smith, but he shot a dazzling 41.2% (70 for 170) while making Brad Brownell’s team roll to eight straight wins to finish the season while going 18-2 in the league with the only win over Duke. He led the Tigers at 16 points per game without hunting shots.
SECOND TEAM
F - Terrence Edwards, Louisville — Pat Kelsey employed Edwards as the Cards’ most versatile defender from the beginning of the season, assigning him to a string of top scorers from a variety of sizes. Over the last 10 games, Edwards became extremely difficult to guard, averaging 20.6 points.
F - Ian Schieffelin, Clemson — The trademark, lunch pail Brad Brownell player. Doesn’t look in Rick Pitino playing shape. Will never jump out of the jump. Not a guy the NBA scouts line up to see. But he’s a frontcourt guy who will give you a three-point shot nearly every night, while averaging 13 points and 9.3 rebounds.
F - Jamir Watkins, Florida State — The ACC’s fourth leading scorer at 18.5 per game, Watkins will join the long list of Leonard Hamilton products to succeed in the NBA.
G - Markus Burton, Notre Dame — Overshadowed by the misery of Notre Dame’s 14-17 season, Burton led the ACC in scoring at 22.2 points per game, even though he was the focal point of the scouting report nearly every night.
G - RJ Davis, North Carolina — Over his five-season career at Chapel Hill, Davis has enjoyed better seasons than he delivered this winter. But when he’s on, he is the most dynamic offensive force in the league — and the Tar Heels will need him to be on to succeed in the ACC Tournament this week.
Coach of the Year
Pat Kelsey, Louisville — Kudos to Jon Scheyer for winning 19 league games with 47 first-round NBA Draft picks. Hat tip to Brad Brownell for the best season he has delivered at Clemson.
This one belongs to Kelsey. After 3-plus years of misery for Louisville basketball, Kelsey delivered a team that became a legit force in the ACC, earning 15 of its 18 conference victories by double figures. Kelsey and his staff did a remarkable job of assembling an entirely new team and finding guys who thought the game as well as they played the game. The Cards were consistent, gritty, entertaining and successful.
Player of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke — Forget the nonsense that he’ll return for the next season. Flagg showed why he’ll be the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and one of the faces of the league for at least the next decade.
Freshman of the year
Cooper Flagg, Duke — I believe I’ve already said enough.
Transfer of the Year
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville — I watched Hepburn win at Wisconsin for three years and expected him to be dynamic at Louisville. But he took it up at notch for Kelsey, improving his scoring average (from 9.2 to 16.3), his steals (2.1 to 2.4), his assists (3.9 to 5.9), rebounds (3.3 to 3.5) and free throw percentage (73.7 to 85.1). And he averaged more than 34 minutes.
Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
