All-ACC men’s basketball awards prominently feature Duke, North Carolina
Duke freshman Cameron Boozer was named ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year after leading the Duke to the conference regular-season title, the ACC announced Monday.
Boozer was the overwhelming pick from the voting panel as Player of the Year, earning the nod on 84 of 86 ballots, as well as Rookie of the Year (82 of 86 votes). He joins former Duke standouts Jahlil Okafor (2015), Marvin Bagley III (2018), Zion Williamson (2019) and Cooper Flagg (2025) as the only players in ACC history to be chosen as the league’s top player and top rookie in the same season.
The Blue Devils captured five of the ACC’s six top honors announced Monday evening by the league. Duke senior forward Maliq Brown was named the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the first player to win both awards in the same season. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was tabbed ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Blue Devils to a 29-2 overall record and 17-1 record in the ACC. Wake Forest’s Juke Harris earned the ACC’s Most Improved Player award.
Boozer was one of four freshmen picked to the All-ACC First Team, joining North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson (19.8 ppg., 9.4 rpg), Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie (ACC-best 23.1 ppg, 3.6 apg) and Virginia’s Thijs De Ridder (15.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg). Miami’s Malik Reneau rounded out the five-man first team squad.
Wilson received the second-most votes for first team (behind Boozer) and was also selected to the All-Rookie Team, along with fellow freshman first-team selectees Boozer, Okorie and De Ridder. Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. rounded out the All-Rookie Team.
The ACC has only twice previously had two freshmen on the first team in the same year (1996: UNC’s Antawn Jamison and Georgia Tech’s Stephon Marbury, and 2019: Duke’s RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson).
Duke and North Carolina were two of four schools (along with Louisville and Miami) to put a pair of players on the All-ACC first, second and third teams.
UNC’s Henri Veesaar (16.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg) was named to the second team, joining Harris, SMU’s Boopie Miller, Miami’s Tre Donaldson and Louisville’s Ryan Conwell.
Duke sophomore guard Isaiah Evans led the third team with 151 votes, joining Louisville star freshman Mikel Brown Jr., N.C. State point guard Quadir Copeland, Florida State’s Robert McCray V and California’s Dai Dai Ames.
The Triangle also boasted three players on the All-ACC honorable mention list: UNC senior guard Seth Trimble, Duke sophomore forward Patrick Ngongba II and N.C. State’s Darrion Williams — the ACC preseason player of the year.
Full ACC Awards list
Top awards
Player of the Year – Cameron Boozer, Fr., F, Duke
Defensive Player of the Year – Maliq Brown, Sr., F, Duke
Rookie of the Year – Cameron Boozer, F, Duke
Most Improved Player – Juke Harris, So., G, Wake Forest
Sixth Man of the Year – Maliq Brown, Sr., F, Duke
Coach of the Year – Jon Scheyer, Duke
2025-26 ALL-ACC TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Points
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 425
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 410
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford, 356
Malik Reneau, Miami, 344
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 302
SECOND TEAM
Boopie Miller, SMU, 293
Juke Harris, Wake Forest, 237
Henri Veesaar, North Carolina, 215
Tre Donaldson, Miami, 204
Ryan Conwell, Louisville, 201
THIRD TEAM
Isaiah Evans, Duke, 151
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 147
Quadir Copeland, NC State, 98
Robert McCray V, Florida State, 90
Dai Dai Ames, California, 51
HONORABLE MENTION
Jaron Pierre Jr., SMU, 45
Donnie Freeman, Syracuse, 36
RJ Godfrey, Clemson, 32
Amani Hansberry, Virginia Tech, 29
Seth Trimble, North Carolina, 27
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 26
Justin Pippen, California, 18
Darrion Williams, NC State, 16
Jalen Haralson, Notre Dame, 15
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 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).
Player of the Year
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 84 votes
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford, 1
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 1
Defensive Player of the Year
Maliq Brown, Duke, 25
Dame Sarr, Duke, 15
Ugonna Onyenso, Virginia, 13
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 10
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 8
Ernest Udeh Jr., Miami, 4
William Kyle III, Syracuse, 3
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 2
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 2
Quadir Copeland, Syracuse 2
Johann Grünloh, Virginia, 2
Rookie of the Year
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 82 votes
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford, 3
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 1
Sixth Man Of the Year
Maliq Brown, Duke, 38
Jacari White, Virginia, 20
Tru Washington, Miami, 19
Adrian Wooley, Louisville, 5
Jeremy Dent-Smith, Stanford, 2
Nojus Indrusaitis, Pitt, 1
Cayden Boozer, Duke, 1
Most improved player
Juke Harris, Wake Forest, 55 votes
Dai Dai Ames, California, 8
Isaiah Evans, Duke, 6
Cole Certa, Notre Dame, 5
Malik Reneau, Miami, 3
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 3
Fred Payne, Boston College, 2
Paul McNeil, Jr., NC State, 1
Ugonna Onyenso, Virginia, 1
Ben Hammond, Virginia Tech, 1
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 1
Coach of the Year
Jon Scheyer, Duke, 51 votes
Jai Lucas, Miami, 19
Ryan Odom, Virginia, 9
Luke Loucks, Florida State, 4
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 2
Mark Madsen, California, 1
All-defensive team
Maliq Brown, Duke, 63 votes
Ugonna Onyenso, Virginia, 58
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 55
Dame Sarr, Duke, 48
Ernest Udeh Jr., Miami, 40
All-rookie team
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 84 votes
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 84
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford, 82
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 64
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 62
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 5:46 PM.