Okafor was also named ACC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Okafor and Grant, both unanimous selections, are joined on the first team by Syracuse forward Rakeem Christmas, Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon and Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan.
Duke’s Okafor, a 6-foot-11 center from Chicago, ranks second among ACC scorers at 17.6 points per game and third in rebounding at 9.2 per contest. Okafor has scored 10 or more points in 29 of his 30 games coming into this week’s New York Life ACC Tournament, and his 11 “double doubles” in points/rebounds rank fourth in the conference.
Notre Dame’s Grant leads the ACC in assists at 6.7 per game and in assists-to-turnover ratio (3.23:1) and is fifth in scoring at 16.8 points per game. The 6-foot-5 guard from Bowie, Maryland, closed the season with a 19-point, eight-assist, five-rebound effort in an 81-67 victory over Clemson Saturday and has scored in double-figures in all but three games this season.
Syracuse’s Christmas led the Orange and ranks third among ACC scorers at 17.5 points per game and is fourth in rebounding at 9.1 boards per contest. In addition, the 6-foot-9 senior from Philadelphia, is second in the ACC with 2.5 blocked shots per game and fifth in field goal percentage (.552).
Virginia’s Brogdon, a second-team selection a year ago, leads the second-ranked Cavaliers in scoring at 13.7 points per game and is second in assists at 2.6 per game. The 6-foot-5 Atlanta, Georgia, junior is averaging 4.0 rebounds per game and is second in the ACC in free throw percentage at .860.
Boston College’s Hanlan, a third-team choice last season, leads the ACC in scoring at 19.4 points per game and is ninth in assists at 4.2 per game. The Aylmer, Quebec, junior closed out the regular season having scored in double figures 24 straight games and has scored 10-or-more points in all but one game this season.
Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell (15.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and Terry Rozier (17.0 ppg, 2.0 steals), Duke’s Quinn Cook (16.0 ppg, .885 FT percentage), NC State’s Trevor Lacey (16.1 ppg) and Virginia’s Justin Anderson (13.4 ppg, .484 3-point field goal percentage) were voted to the second team.
North Carolina’s Marcus Paige (13.5 ppg, 4.4 apg) was the leading vote-getter on the third team. Paige is joined by Duke’s Tyus Jones (11.8 ppg, 5.7 apg), Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton (12.6 ppg), Virginia’s Anthony Gill (11.6 ppg) and North Carolina’s Brice Johnson (12.6 ppg).
Duke’s Okafor earns unanimous recognition
USBWA Freshman of the Year finalists Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, all of Duke, headline the five-member 2014-15 All-ACC Freshman Team as selected by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA).
The Blue Devil trio is joined by Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes and North Carolina’s Justin Jackson.
Duke’s Okafor, a 6-foot-11 center from Chicago, ranks second among ACC scorers at 17.6 points per game and third in rebounding at 9.2 per contest. Okafor has scored 10 or more points in 29 of his 30 games coming into this week’s ACC Tournament, and his 11 “double doubles” in points/rebounds rank fourth in the conference.
Jones leads the ACC in free throw percentage (.882) and is second in assists (5.7) while Winslow is averaging 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds, and along with Jones, has started all 31 games of the year for the third-ranked Blue Devils.
Florida State’s Xavier-Mayes has scored 20 or more points seven times this season, including two 35-point efforts and leads the Seminoles, and ranks second among all ACC freshmen, in both scoring (14.4) and assists (4.4).
North Carolina’s Jackson closed out the regular season averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds over his last five games. On the year in 31 games, including 30 starts, Jackson is fourth on the team in scoring (10.1) and third in assists (2.5).
Syracuse’s Christmas, Virginia’s Brogdon lead voting by ACC media members
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The conference’s second-leading shot-blocker and two Virginia standouts are among the five players voted to the 2014-15 All-ACC Defensive Team announced by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA) on Sunday.
Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas, who leads all active ACC players with 247 career blocked shots, was named on 58 of the 64 ballots, while Virginia junior Malcom Brogdon received 50 votes and Darion Atkins was on 38 ballots.
Also named to the defensive team are Miami Junior Tonye Jekiri (38 votes) and NC State’s BeeJay Anya (29 votes).
Brogdon and Atkins have played major roles in a stifling Virginia defense that leads the nation in scoring defense (50.2) and ranks third in field goal percentage defense (.357).
Miami’s Jekiri, the ACC’s leading rebounder at 10.2 rebounds per game, is fourth in the ACC at 1.5 blocked shots per game.
NC State’s Anya has blocked at least one shot in 28 of his 31 games and leads the ACC and ranks 20th nationally in blocked shots per game, averaging 2.7 per game.
2014-15 ACSMA All-ACC Teams
(First place votes in parenthesis, followed by total points)
First Team All-ACC
Jahlil Okafor, Fr., Duke (64) 320
Jerian Grant, Sr., Notre Dame (64) 320
Rakeem Christmas, Gr. Syracuse (51) 294
Malcolm Brogdon, Jr., Virginia (53) 293
Olivier Hanlan, Jr., Boston College (29) 246
Second Team All-ACC
Montrezl Harrell, Jr., Louisville (21) 220
Quinn Cook, Sr., Duke (23) 219
Terry Rozier, So., Louisville (2) 154
Trevor Lacey, Jr., NC State (2) 123
Justin Anderson, Jr., Virginia (5) 106
Third Team All-ACC
Marcus Paige, Jr., North Carolina (4) 97
Tyus Jones, Fr., Duke (2) 89
Pat Connaughton, Sr., Notre Dame 45
Anthony Gill, Jr., Virginia 42
Brice Johnson, Jr., North Carolina 40
Honorable Mention
Jamel Artis, So., Pittsburgh 33
Tonye Jekiri, Jr., Miami 32
London Perrantes, So., Virginia 31
Sheldon McClellan, Jr., Miami 31
Justise Winslow, Fr., Duke 29
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Fr., Florida State 24
Michael Young, So., Pittsburgh 14
Angel Rodriguez, Jr., Miami 13
Codi Miller-McIntyre, Jr., Wake Forest 12
Kennedy Meeks, So.,North Carolina 10
2014-15 ACSMA All-ACC Freshman Team
Jahlil Okafor, Duke, *64
Tyus Jones, Duke, 62
Justise Winslow, Duke, 59
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Florida State, 57
Justin Jackson, North Carolina, 22
*denotes unanimous
ACSMA 2014-15 All-ACC Defensive Team
Rakeem Christmas, Gr., Syracuse, 58
Malcolm Brogdon, Jr., Virginia, 50
Darion Atkins, Sr., Virginia, 38
Tonye Jekiri, Jr., Miami, 38
BeeJay Anya, So., NC State, 29