CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina senior guard RJ Davis has been voted the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Player of the Year, while the Tar Heels’ Hubert Davis earned ACC Coach of the Year honors, highlighting the 2023-24 All-ACC Men’s Basketball Team and award winners.
The 2023-24 All-ACC Team was determined by a 75-member panel consisting of the league’s 15 head coaches and 60 members of the media.
Virginia’s Reece Beekman notched ACC Defensive Player of the Year laurels for the second straight season, while Notre Dame’s Markus Burton earned ACC Rookie of Year honors. Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin claimed the ACC’s Most Improved Player, while Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett was picked as the Sixth Man of the Year.
RJ Davis was the overwhelming pick from the voting panel as Player of the Year, earning the nod on 68 of 75 ballots. Davis is averaging a league-leading 21.1 points per game this season as well as 3.6 assists per game, which is 11th in the league. The native of White Plains, New York, is a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nation’s most outstanding player. He also is a finalist for the Jerry West Award for the top shooting guard in the country. Davis has scored at least 20 points 19 times this season, which is the most 20-point games in a season 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 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.
In his third season at the helm of his alma mater, Hubert Davis led the Tar Heels to their first outright ACC regular-season title since the 2016-17 campaign. He is UNC’s first ACC Coach of the Year honoree since Roy Williams in 2011. The Tar Heels have racked up a 25-6 record, including a 17-3 mark in league play, and hold the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament this week. UNC’s 17 ACC wins tied the ACC record for regular-season wins (Virginia was 17-1 in 2018-19).
Beekman became just the third player to earn back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors since the award was instituted in 2005, joining Duke’s Shelden Williams (2005-06) and North Carolina’s John Henson (2011-12). He is the sixth Cavalier to win the award in the last 10 seasons. A senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Beekman ranks second in the ACC in steals (66 total, 2.13 per game) while leading the ACC’s top-ranked scoring defense at 59.1 points per game. Also named a Second-Team All-ACC honoree, he averaged 14.3 points per game (14th in ACC) and a league-leading 6.0 assists per game.
The first member of the Fighting Irish to earn ACC Rookie of the Year, Burton has scored a Notre Dame freshman record 535 points this season, averaging 17.3 points per game, which is sixth overall in the ACC and third nationally among all freshmen. He also is averaging 4.3 assists per game, which ranks sixth in the ACC, and 2.0 assists per game, which is fourth in the ACC. The Mishawaka, Indiana, native Burton could potentially become the first player in program history to finish a season averaging at least 17.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game and currently is the only freshman in the nation to boast those averages.
Schieffelin has been a key part of Clemson’s strong season, averaging 9.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. The junior from Loganville, Georgia, currently ranks third in the ACC in rebounding. He has more than doubled his rebounding totals from a year ago, when averaged 4.1 boards per game and has raised his scoring from 5.5 points per game as a sophomore. He also has become one of the Tigers’ top threats from 3-point range, shooting 19-of-36 (52.8%). He hit on 33.3 percent of his attempts last season.
Leggett is the second straight Panther to earn the nod as ACC Sixth Man of the Year, joining Nike Sibande in 2023. The junior from Prince George's County, Maryland, has averaged 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this season. He leads the Panthers in rebounding and steals (36), while ranking third in scoring and assists. He has scored in double figures 22 times, including 11 of the past 14 games off the bench.
The All-ACC first, second and third teams showed incredible balance, with 12 schools representing the 15 players selected. North Carolina (3) and Duke (2) were the only schools to have multiple players on the teams.
2023-24 ALL-ACC TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Points
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 373
PJ 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
DJ Horne, NC 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
