A panel consisting of the ACC’s 15 head coaches and 60 members of the media has named Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach as the ACC Coach of the Year.
In other league awards, Georgia Tech senior forward Moses Wright was voted the Player of the Year while Florida State guard Scottie Barnes received a double nod as the ACC Freshman and Sixth Man of the Year, Georgia Tech senior guard Jose Alvarado earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Duke sophomore Matthew Hurt was voted the ACC’s Most Improved Player.
A native of Raleigh, N.C., who came to Georgia Tech having played only one year of high school basketball, the 6-9 Wright is the second Yellow Jacket player to earn ACC Player of the Year honors and the first since Dennis Scott in 1990. Wright also earned a spot on this year’s All-ACC Defensive Team.
Florida State’s Barnes helped the Seminoles to a second-place ACC finish while averaging 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds, and ranking fifth among conference players in assists with 4.3 per game and fourth among ACC players in assist/turnover ratio.
FSU’s Leonard Hamilton finished second to Young in the voting for ACC Coach of the Year.
In his second year with the Hokies, Young guided a team picked for an 11th-place finish in the preseason to a no.-3 ACC Tournament seed, only the second time the Hokies (15-5, 9-4 ACC) have been the no.-3 seed in the tournament (2007) and the first time they have been awarded a double bye since the tourney expanded to 15 teams in 2014. The no.-3 seed ties the highest Virginia Tech has ever earned in the ACC Tournament.
Young’s selection marks the third time the ACC Coach of the Year honoree has come from Virginia Tech and the first time since 2008 (Seth Greenberg).
Georgia Tech’s Alvarado leads the ACC in steals with 66 in 23 games while Duke’s Hurt leads the conference in scoring at 18.7 points per game.
Wright is joined on the All-ACC First Team by Louisville’s Jones (17.0 ppg), Pitt’s Champagnie (18.4 ppg, 11.1 rpg), Duke’s Hurt and Virginia’s Sam Hauser (15.8 ppg).
The All-ACC Second Team is composed of Virginia Tech’s Keve Aluma, Georgia Tech’s Alvarado, Virginia’s Jay Huff, Florida State’s M.J. Walker and Clemson’s Aamir Simms.
Barnes was joined on the ACC All-Freshman Team by Duke’s DJ Steward, North Carolina’s Sharpe, Louisville’s Jae’Lyn Withers and UNC’s Caleb Love.
Alvarado was joined on the All-Defensive First Team by NC State’s Manny Bates, Virginia’s Huff, Duke’s Jordan Goldwire and Georgia Tech’s Wright.