Stanwick Repeats as ACC Player of the Year
Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia senior attackman Steele Stanwick has been named the 2012 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, as announced by the league office. Stanwick becomes the fourth player in league history to be named player of the year in back-to-back seasons and is the first Cavalier to win the award multiple times in a career. This is the first season awards were given separately to offensive and defensive players.
Stanwick (Baltimore, Md.) leads the nation in assists (44) and is No. 3 nationally in points per game (4.9). Stanwick currently is tied with former Syracuse great Gary Gait for No. 27 all-time at the NCAA Division I level with 253 career points. Stanwick’s seven points over the weekend helped the senior pass Doug Knight for UVa’s all-time No. 1 spot in points.
The ACC has had three previous repeat winners of the ACC Player of the Year award and Stanwick is the first since Duke’s Matt Danowski, who won in 2005, 2007 & 2008. The other back-to-back winners are NC State’s Stan Cockerton, the father of current Cavaliers Matt and Mark, who won the very first two ACC Player of the Year awards in 1977 & 1978. Ryan Wade of North Carolina (1993 & 1994) is the other back-to-back winner, while Maryland’s Joe Walters (2004 & 2006) is the only other multiple winner of the player of the year honor.
With Stanwick’s two player of the year wins, UVa is tied with North Carolina for the most in league history with 10. Before Stanwick’s 2011 honor, the last UVa player to be named ACC Player of the Year was Chris Rotelli in2003.
Duke’s CJ Costabile and Maryland’s Jesse Bernhardt were named ACC Co-Defensive Players of the Year. Duke’s John Danowski garnered ACC Coach of the Year accolades, and Maryland’s Goran Murray was named ACC Freshman of the Year.
Virginia concludes the regular season schedule on Friday in the Whitman’s Sampler Mile High Classic against Penn, to be contested inside Sports Authority Field at Mile High, in Denver, Colo. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3 and face off is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.