North Carolina guard RJ Davis is the unanimous choice as The Associated Press men’s basketball player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Tar Heels’ Hubert Davis was voted as coach of the year.
Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis, a transfer from Gonzaga, was named the newcomer of the year in balloting released Tuesday from 15 journalists who cover the ACC.
RJ Davis, a 6-foot senior, and Hubert Davis claimed top honors after helping No. 4 North Carolina win the ACC regular-season title outright for the first time since 2017. RJ Davis led the ACC in scoring at 21.1 points per game and has twice been selected as the AP national player of the week this season.
Hubert Davis earned 10 votes, with Syracuse’s Adrian Autry the only other coach to receive two votes.
A year after missing the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels became only the second team to reach 17 league wins in a season since the league expanded its schedule to 18- and 20-game slates. They are the No. 1 seed in this week’s ACC Tournament.
Sallis averaged 18.3 points in helping the Demon Deacons contend for an NCAA Tournament bid. He received six votes to edge Notre Dame freshman Markus Burton (five) for the league’s top newcomer.