North Carolina redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard (Davie, Fla.), who rebounded from a severe knee injury to become the nation’s leading freshmen rusher, has been named the recipient of the 2011 Brian Piccolo Award, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford announced Friday.

The Piccolo Award has been given annually since 1972 in memory of the late Brian Piccolo to the “most courageous” football player in the ACC. Piccolo was the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1965 and played for the Chicago Bears before his career was cut short when he was stricken with cancer. His courageous fight against that disease was an inspiration to the Bears and the entire football community.

Bernard suffered a severe knee injury, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament on the third day of pre-season practice prior to the start of the 2010 football season which forced him to miss all of last year. After a year of rehabilitation, Bernard returned to lead North Carolina in rushing this year with 1,222 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. He ranks 3rd in the ACC in rushing and has more rushing yards than any other freshman nationally. With still one game remaining in his season, his yardage total is the 3rd-best by an ACC freshman.

Earlier this year, he became the first Tar Heel football player since 1984 to record five consecutive games with 100 or more yards in rushing and has topped the 100-yard mark seven times this year. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week three times this year: on October 3 for rushing for 146 yards and a TD against East Carolina; on Oct. 31 for rushing for 154 yards and 2 TDs against Wake Forest; and this past week for rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown in UNC’s 37-21 win over Duke.

Coincidentally, Bernard played his prep football at the same high school as Piccolo. A running back who led the nation in rushing in 1965 with 1,044 yards, Piccolo played at Central Catholic High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Central Catholic was the predecessor for St. Thomas Aquinas High School, which is where Bernard played.

“Giovani is a special person and is a deserving recipient of this prestigious award,” said North Carolina head coach Everett Withers. “ I know he was disappointed he could not play last year after tearing ligaments in his knee on the third day of practice. However, he was relentless with his rehabilitation, never complained and came back stronger than ever. That’s the type of person he is. He came back in 2011 and had an incredible season for us.”

Bernard is the fifth North Carolina student-athlete to be honored with the Picccolo Award, joining former teammate Robert Quinn, who received the award in 2008, Danny Burmeister (1985), Jim Webster (1971) and Paul Miller (1970), as past Tar Heel honorees.

Previous Winners of the ACC Brian Piccolo Award

1970 Paul Miller, QB, North Carolina

1971 Jim Webster, LB, North Carolina

1972 Mark Johnson, QB, Duke

1973 Al Neville, QB, Maryland

1974 David Visaggio, DG, Maryland

1975 Scott Gardner, QB, Virginia

1976 Jeff Green, DE, Duke

1977 Ralph Stringer, DB, NC State

1978 Rex Varn, DB, Clemson

1979 not available

1980 Jack Cain, DB,Clemson

1981 Aaron Stewart, DB, Duke

1982 Kenny Duckett, WR, Wake Forest

1983 John Piedmonte, OLB,Wake Forest

1984 J.D. Maarleveld, T, Maryland

1985 Danny Burmeister, DB, N. Carolina

1986 Ray Williams, WR, Clemson

1987 no recipient

1988 Jerry Mays, TB, Georgia Tech

1989 Michael Anderson, RB, Maryland

1990 Marc Mays, WR, Duke

1991 Scott Adell, T, NC State

1992 Dan Footman, DE, Florida State

Randy Cuthbert, TB, Duke

1993 Scott Youmans, DL, Duke

1994 Chris Harrison, T, Virginia

1995 Warren Forney, DT, Clemson

1996 John Lewis, RB, Wake Forest

1997 Sam Cowart, LB, Florida State

1998 Anthony Poindexter, DB, Virginia

Corey Simon, DT, Florida State

1999 Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State

2000 Ed Wilder, FB, Georgia Tech

2001 Matt Crawford, T, Maryland

2002 Anquan Boldin, WR, Florida State

2003 Kevin Bailey, OL, Virginia

2004 Frank Gore, RB, Miami

2005 Ryan Best, S, Virginia

2006 Glenn Sharpe, Miami

2007 Matt Robinson, DE, Wake Forest

2008 Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina

2009 Toney Baker, RB, NC State

2010 Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College,

Nate Irving, LB, NC State