Bennett and Hunter Claim Top ACC Honors
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia’s Tony Bennett was named the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year and redshirt sophomore De’Andre Hunter (Philadelphia, Pa.) was named Defensive Player of the Year, the ACC announced on Monday (March 11).
Hunter, along with junior Kyle Guy (Indianapolis, Ind.) were named All-ACC First Team, and junior Ty Jerome (New Rochelle, N.Y.) was named All-ACC Second Team. Hunter was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
UVA now has 26 All-ACC first team selections. The Cavaliers have had the defensive player of the year in four of the last five years, with Hunter joining Isaiah Wilkins (2018), Malcolm Brogdon (2016), and Darion Atkins and Brogdon (2015).
Bennett earned his fourth ACC coach of the year honor, the third most all-time behind Dean Smith (8) and Mike Krzyzewski (5). Bennett guided UVA to a share of the ACC regular-season title, giving the Cavaliers four in the last six years. UVA captured an ACC-record five ranked road wins, tied for most all-time with UConn (1998-99) and had a school-record eight wins over ranked opponents in 2018-19.
Hunter spearheads UVA’s top-ranked defense that yields 54.1 points per game. He is averaging career highs in points (15.2) and rebounds (5.2). He ranks third in in the ACC in field goal percentage (53.3%), seventh in free throw percentage (78.7%) and 13th in scoring (15.2). Hunter earned Battle 4 Atlantis MVP honors and ACC Player of the Week accolades after averaging 19.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in the tournament.
Guy leads the Cavaliers with 15.3 points per game. He ranks first in the ACC in 3-pointers per game (3.2), third in 3-point percentage (45.1%), ninth in minutes (34.2), 10th in field goal percentage (46.3%) and 12th in scoring (15.3). Guy has scored 20 or more points in seven games and his 97 3-pointers this season rank fourth on UVA’s single-season list.
Jerome is averaging career highs in points (13.5), rebounds (4.1) and assists (5.1). He ranks first in assists (5.3), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.2), fourth in 3-point percentage (42.6%), 18th in minutes (32.7) and 21st in scoring (13.5). Jerome has three double-doubles this season, including 16 points and school-record tying 14 assists at Syracuse. Jerome has handed out four or more assists in 22 games.
Joining Hunter and Guy on the first team were ACC Player of the Year Zion Williamson (Duke), RJ Barrett (Duke) and Cameron Johnson (North Carolina).
Jerome is joined on the second team by Luke Maye (North Carolina), Ky Bowman (Boston College), Coby White (North Carolina) and Kerry Blackshear, Jr. (Virginia Tech).
No. 1 seed Virginia (28-2) will play No. 8 seed NC State (21-10) or No. 9 seed Clemson (19-12) in ACC quarterfinal action on Thursday, March 14. Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. is set for 12:30 p.m.
All-ACC
First Team
Zion Williamson, Duke, 350*
RJ Barrett, Duke, 346
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia, 302
Cameron Johnson, North Carolina, 277
Kyle Guy, Virginia, 231
Second Team
Luke Maye, North Carolina, 221
Ky Bowman, Boston College, 188
Ty Jerome, Virginia, 177
Coby White, North Carolina, 171
Kerry Blackshear Jr., Virginia Tech, 170
Third Team
Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 135
Marcquise Reed, Clemson, 129
Tyus Battle, Syracuse, 128
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech, 72
John Mooney, Notre Dame, 71
Honorable Mention
Mifondu Kabengele, Florida State, 69
Cam Reddish, Duke, 37
Tre Jones, Duke, 18
Terance Mann, Florida State, 16
Elijah Thomas, Clemson, 10
ACC Player of the Year
Zion Williamson, Duke, 49
RJ Barrett, Duke, 16
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia, 4
Ky Bowman, Boston College, 1
ACC Freshman of the Year
Zion Williamson, Duke, 47
RJ Barrett, Duke, 21
Coby White, North Carolina, 2
ACC Coach of the Year
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 30
Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech, 12
Roy Williams, North Carolina, 11
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State, 10
Chris Mack, Louisville, 7
ACC Defensive Player of the Year
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia, 46
Tre Jones, Duke, 19
David Skara, Clemson, 3
Trent Forrest, Florida State, 2
ACC Most Improved Player
Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 30
John Mooney, Notre Dame, 27
Cameron Johnson, North Carolina, 5
Mifondu Kabengele, Florida State, 4
Kerry Blackshear Jr., Virginia Tech, 2
Chris Lykes, Miami, 2
ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Mifondu Kabengele, Florida State, 60
DJ Funderburk, NC State, 3
Jared Wilson-Frame, Pitt, 3
Nassir Little, North Carolina, 2
Braxton Key, Virginia, 2
ACC All-Defensive Team
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia, 60
Tre Jones, Duke, 56
Zion Williamson, Duke, 53
Elijah Thomas, Clemson, 31
James Banks III, Georgia Tech, 29
ACC All-Freshman Team
Zion Williamson, Duke, 70*
Coby White, North Carolina, 67
RJ Barrett, Duke, 66
Xavier Johnson, Pitt, 40
Tre Jones, Duke, 38