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BROOKLYN, NY (theACC.com) – Wake Forest alumnus Alondes Williams was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, and Demon Deacons head coach Steve Forbes was named ACC Coach of the Year, highlighting the 2021-22 All-ACC men’s basketball team and winners.
The 2021–22 All-ACC team was selected by a 78-member panel of 15 head league coaches and 63 members of the media.
Duke received two awards for the season: forward Paolo Bankero was named ACC Rookie of the Year, and sophomore center Mark Williams won Defensive Player of the Year. Florida State freshman Matthew Cleveland earned sixth player of the year honors, and redshirted North Carolina State sophomore defenseman Dereon Sibron won the ACC Most Improved Player Award.
This is the 11th time Demon Deacon has received the ACC Player of the Year award and the first time since Josh Howard in 2003. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Williams averaged 19.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and a league-high 5.3 assists per game. regular season in his first season at Wake Forest. Playing in the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, he is just one point behind Syracuse’s Buddy Boheim in ACC scoring and has the potential to end the season as the first player in league history to lead the league in scoring and assists.
In just his second season at Wake Forest, Forbes became the first Demon Deacons head coach to win the ACC Coach of the Year award since Skip Prosser in 2003, and the eighth all-time. Forbes led Wake to a remarkable turnaround, with the Demon Deacons going from a 6-16 (3-13 ACC) record last season to a 17-win improvement to a 23-8 (13-7 ACC) record and fifth place. The conference will end this year. The Deacs were projected to be ranked 13th in the pre-season media poll. Wake Forest’s 13 ACC wins are the most in the program’s history.
Banchero ranks second in the nation in scoring among all freshmen this season with an average of 17.1 points per game. The Seattle native ranks sixth in the ACC in scoring and fourth in rebounding (7.7). He also owns eight double-doubles, the fourth most among all ACC players. He became the fourth Blue Devil in the past five years to win the Rookie of the Year award, joining Marvin Bagley III (2018), Zion Williamson (2019) and Vernon Carey Jr (2020).
Williams led the defense for the Blue Devils, who have been the ACC’s best in field goal defense (41.3%), three-point defense (30.2%) and blocked shots (5.5 per game) this season. A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Williams led the ACC in blocks per game (2.81).
Cleveland became the fourth straight Seminole to be honored with Sixth Man of the Year, joining Mfiond Kabengele (2019), Patrick Williams (2020), and Scotty Barnes (2021). The Atlanta freshman averaged 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 28 games (20 off the bench).
Cibron averaged 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds this season. His performance improved by 12.1 points per game from the 2020-21 season, the best of any ACC player. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Seabron is fifth in the league in scoring and second in rebounding. He has 11 double-doubles, second in the ACC.
2021-22 ACC Award Winners
Player of the Year: Alondes Williams, Wake Forest
Rookie of the Year: Paolo Banquero, Duke
Coach of the year: Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Williams, Duke
Most Improved Player: Dereon Cibron, NC
Sixth Person of the Year: Matthew Cleveland, Florida
2021-22 All-ACC Team
First team
Armando Backot, North Carolina, 380 years old.
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest, 373
Paolo Banquero, Duke, 372
Cameron McGasty, Miami, 315
Buddy Boheim, Syracuse, 241
Second team
Kev Aluma, Virginia Tech, 192
Dereon Cibron, N.C., 166
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 161.
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 148
Jake LaRavia, Wake Forest, 147
Third team
Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame, 131
Mark Williams, Duke, 119
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 119
Jaden Gardner, Virginia, 106
Michael Devow, Georgia Institute of Technology, 105
Honorable mention
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 84
PJ Hall, Clemson, 72
John Hagley, Pitt, 54
Charlie Moore, Miami, 42
Brady Manek, North Carolina, 38
Kehei Clark, Virginia, 22
AJ Griffin, Duke, 22
Paul Atkinson Jr, Notre Dame, 20
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 15
Rhys Beekman, Virginia, age 15.
Note. All-ACC team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for the first team, three points for the second team, one point for the third team).
ACC Player of the Year
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest, 41 votes
Armando Backot, North Carolina, 31
Paolo Banquero, Duke, 6 years old
ACC Freshman of the Year
Paolo Banquero, Duke, 72 votes
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 4
Terquavion Smith, NC State 1
Trevor Keels, Duke, 1
ACC Defender of the Year
Mark Williams, Duke, 46 votes
Rhys Beekman, Virginia, 20
Leaky Black, North Carolina, age 7
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 3
Charlie Moore Miami 2
Most Improved ACC Player
Dereon Seabron, NC, 33 votes
PJ Hall, Clemson, 28
Mark Williams, Duke, 4
John Hagley, Pitt, 4
Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame 3
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse 2
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 2
James Carnick, Boston College 1
R. J. Davis, NC 1
Sixth ACC Person of the Year
Matthew Cleveland, Florida, 52 votes
El Ellis, Louisville, 6
Anthony Walker, Miami, age 6
Khadim Sy, Wake Forest, 6
Kadin Shedrick, Virginia, age 5
Quinten Post, Boston College 2
Cam Hayes, NC State 1
ACC Coach of the Year
Steve Forbes, Wake Forest, 40 votes
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke, 19
Mike Bray, Notre Dame, 13
Jim Larranaga, Miami, 3
Mike Young, Virginia Tech 1
Hubert Davis, NC 1
Tony Bennett Virginia 1
All-ACC Defense Team
Mark Williams, Duke, 77 votes
Rhys Beekman, Virginia, 69
Leaky Black, North Carolina, 55 years old.
Charlie Moore, Miami, 45
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 33.
Rookie Team
Paolo Banquero, Duke, 77 votes
Terquavion Smith, N.C., 73
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 72
AJ Griffin, Duke, 66
Trevor Keels, Duke, 50