Garrison Brooks is the preseason ACC Player of the Year. High hopes for Duke, UNC
North Carolina forward Garrison Brooks was named the ACC preseason Player of the Year on Wednesday by media that covers the conference.
Brooks, a senior, has gradually progressed from a bit player as a freshman to becoming the Tar Heels’ most steady defender as a sophomore. As a junior he grew into the leading scorer in ACC play, averaging 18.8 points per game last season.
Brooks is UNC’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, averaging 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds last season. He received 102 out of a total of 155 votes for player of the year. Virginia, which was picked to win the ACC, placed forward Sam Hauser second on the list with 24 votes. A pair of Duke sophomores Wendell Moore Jr., (7) and Matthew Hurt (3) also received votes.
Brooks headlined the All-ACC first team in which there were no unanimous selections. He was joined by Hauser, a Marquette transfer, and a pair of freshmen in Florida State’s Scottie Barnes and Duke’s Jalen Johnson. A tie for the fifth spot with 50 votes made Clemson’s Aamir Simms and Miami’s Chris Lykes round out the first team with six players.
A group of point guards dominated the All-ACC second team starting with Louisville’s David Johnson, Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado, FSU’s M.J. Walker and Virginia’s Kihei Clark. Moore, who played spot duty as a point forward for Duke last season, completed the second team.
ACC Freshman of the Year
Barnes, who is considered to be the highest rated recruit of coach Leonard Hamilton’s tenure in Tallahassee, was named the preseason Freshman of the Year. The forward edged out Duke’s Jalen Johnson by a count of 64-60.
No other freshmen received more than 10 votes for the honor. Carolina had three players — guard Caleb Love (9), forward Day’Ron Sharpe (6) and guard R.J. Davis (3) — from its highly touted freshmen class receive votes. Duke also had three players in addition to Johnson be noted: D.J. Steward (4), Jeremy Roach (3) and two for Mark Williams. N.C. State guard Cam Hayes also received a vote.
ACC basketball predicted order of finish
| (First-place votes) | Points |
| 1. Virginia (97) | 2214 |
| 2. Duke (34) | 2146 |
| 3. Florida State (15) | 1973 |
| 4. North Carolina (7) | 1933 |
| 5. Louisville (2) | 1693 |
| 6. Syracuse | 1234 |
| 7. Miami | 1223 |
| 8. NC State | 1149 |
| 9. Georgia Tech | 1147 |
| 10. Clemson | 1057 |
| 11. Virginia Tech | 794 |
| 12. Notre Dame | 769 |
| 13. Pitt | 635 |
| 14. Boston College | 404 |
| 15. Wake Forest | 229 |
All-ACC
| First team |
| Garrison Brooks, UNC (137) |
| Sam Hauser, UVA (89) |
| Scottie Barnes, FSU (59) |
| Jalen Johnson, Duke (52) |
| Aamir Simms, Clemson (50) |
| Chris Lykes, Miami (50) |
| Second team |
| David Johnson, Lou (46) |
| Jose Alvarado, GT (43) |
| MJ Walker, FSU (38) |
| Kihei Clark, UVA (37) |
| Wendell Moore Jr, Duke (32) |
Player of the Year voting
| Garrison Brooks, UNC (102) |
| Sam Hauser, UVA (24) |
| MJ Walker, FSU (10) |
| Wendell Moore Jr., Duke (7) |
| Aamir Simms, Clemson (5) |
| Matthew Hurt, Duke (3) |
| Chris Lykes, Miami (3) |
| Kihei Clark, UVA (1) |
Freshman of the Year
| Scottie Barnes, FSU (64) |
| Jalen Johnson, Duke (60) |
| Caleb Love, UNC (9) |
| Day’Ron Sharpe, UNC (6) |
| DJ Steward, Duke (4) |
| Reece Beekman, UVA (3) |
| Jeremy Roach, Duke (3) |
| RJ Davis, UNC (3) |
| Mark Williams, Duke (2) |
| Cam Hayes, NC State (1) |
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 9:49 AM.