Tough calls in the ACC
As the voting deadline for ACC basketball honors approaches, the races are too close to call on several fronts.
Members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association have until Sunday night to make their decisions. As one of those voters, I intend to wait as long as possible.
It has not been a great year for the league -- far from it -- but it has been extremely competitive among the six teams likely to finish the regular season in the first division of the standings.
Entering the final games, here are a few races to watch:
J.R. Reynolds or Sean Singletary?
One of these two seemingly cloned Virginia guards has to join Zabian Dowdell (Virginia Tech), Jared Dudley (Boston College), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) and Al Thornton (Florida State) on my first-team all-conference list.
But which Cavaliers star do you pick? Reynolds is a senior and had a 40-point game against Wake Forest. Singletary, a junior, has the higher scoring average (18.6 to 18.5) and ranks among the league leaders in assists.
For now, it's Singletary's spot by a hair, but two big games by Reynolds could change the verdict.
Dave Leitao or Seth Greenberg?
Leitao's second Virginia team is 10-4 in the league and 19-8 overall, with games to go against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
The Hokies' Greenberg, in his fourth season at the school, was ACC coach of the year in 2005. His team went 8-8 and 16-14 that season. With games left against Virginia and Clemson, Greenberg's current team is 10-4 and 20-8.
Virginia Tech won the first regular-season game handily on Feb. 10, but that was in Blacksburg. If Greenberg can make it a sweep, he likely will win the vote.
Outside the ACC, neither coach has accomplished much of substance. The Cavaliers opened the season with an upset win over Arizona but then lost to Appalachian State only a few weeks later.
Overall, no one among the 12 coaches has had a spectacular season. If you had to pass letter grades to date, no one would deserve an "A."
Dowdell, Dudley or Hansbrough?
Don't discount the possibility that there'll be a tie in the voting for player of the year.
It's occurred only once in league history -- Duke's Shane Battier and North Carolina's Joseph Forte in 2001.
Dowdell, Dudley and Hansbrough are the likely leaders, but there's no clear front-runner. Dudley, for now, is my leader, but he's in no position to mail it in during the final two games against Clemson and Georgia Tech.
Lawson or Wright?
The freshman class has exceeded most expectations. In fact, picking the five-man all-frosh team is more difficult than settling on best for all-conference.
For rookie of the year, I think it's basically a race between North Carolina playmaker Tywon Lawson and Tar Heels big man Brandan Wright.
Wright has superstar talent and probably will be the first ACC player selected if he enters the NBA Draft, but Tywon Lawson is the one player the team can't live without.
When he's on the court, the offense works well most of the time. When Tywon Lawson is on the bench, the offense struggles.
On my current rookie team, the two Heels are joined by Duke's Jon Scheyer, N.C. State's Brandon Costner and Georgia Tech's Javaris Crittenton.
But how's this for a second-team all-rookie group -- Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech), Wayne Ellington (UNC), Ish Smith (Wake Forest), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland) and Trevor Booker (Clemson)? Not bad, that's what.
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