No player meant more to his team. When Curry (28.6 points, 5.7 assists) didn’t play against The Citadel last month, the Wildcats lost by 18 points.
The rest of the first team: Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Gerard Henderson of Duke.
Lawson played the point as well as anyone in ACC history, and Henderson went from good to great during the season, averaging 19.8 points in conference games.
The ACC office says Hansbrough is the first four-time, first-team unanimous selection. Don’t believe them: He was not unanimous his sophomore season.
It’s a perimeter team, so Mike Krzyzewski is the coach.
Danny Green of North Carolina, Kyle Singler of Duke, James Johnson of Wake Forest lead the bench.
Jonathan Rodriguez of Campbell and Ola Atoyebi of Elon make the cut in a bad year for the small schools. Tracy Smith went from role player to State’s best player.
The last spot goes to walk-on Daniel Mercer of UNC Wilmington. The junior averaged 13.4 minutes and 2.3 points in his first year of organized basketball since the eighth grade. | story
I am excited about Mercer’s success, because I coached him in a Raleigh Parks & Recreation league from 2000 to 2002.
All stats are per 30 minutes.
First team pts reb ast 2pt 3pt ftRankings (results through Wednesday’s games)
Curry 25.6 3.9 5.1 .528 .382 .876
Lawson 16.2 2.8 6.7 .571 .467 .809
Hansbrough 21.1 8.1 0.8 .528 9-19 .849
Teague 18.3 3.1 3.3 .502 .469 .827
Henderson 17.0 5.1 2.5 .526 .343 .771
Bench pts reb ast 2pt 3pt ft
Green 15.5 5.2 3.2 .558 .444 .827
Singler 15.8 7.3 2.5 .492 .367 .708
Johnson 14.3 8.3 2.1 .598 18-60 .691
Rodriguez 15.4 8.2 1.9 .495 19-53 .790
Atoyebi 17.3 7.5 0.8 .578 0-1 .731
Smith 17.0 7.4 1.0 .546 0-0 .598
Mercer 5.1 4.7 0.5 .705 0-0 .133
RPI rankings, team (overall record, record vs. North Carolina teams)
2. Duke (25-6, 4-3)
Last week: 2
beat UNC Asheville, Davidson, N.C. State, Wake Forest
lost to Wake Forest, North Carolina (2)
ACC tournament: vs. TBA in quarterfinals, 9:30 p.m. Friday
3. North Carolina (26-3, 5-1)
Last week: 3
beat UNC Asheville, N.C. State (2), Duke (2)
lost to Wake Forest
ACC tournament: vs. TBA in quarterfinals, noon Friday
ACC career scoring leaders ptsI’ve decided not to include Dickie Hemric (2,587 points), because his first two seasons were in the Southern Conference — before the ACC was formed.
1. J.J. Redick 2,769
2. Tyler Hansbrough 2,717
3. Johnny Dawkins 2,556
4. Rodney Monroe 2,551
5. Bryant Stith 2,516
10. Wake Forest (24-5, 7-2)
Last week: 17
beat N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, North Carolina, Duke, N.C. State
lost to N.C. State, Duke
ACC tournament: vs. TBA in quarterfinals, 7 p.m. Friday
69. Davidson (25-7, 8-1)
Last week: 67
beat N.C. State, Appalachian State (2), Elon (2), Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro (2)
lost to Duke
Southern Conference tournament: lost to College of Charleston
59-52 in semifinals
100. N.C. State (16-13, 6-5)
Last week: 100
beat High Point, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, N.C. Central, Wake Forest
lost to Davidson, Duke, North Carolina (2), Wake Forest
ACC tournament: vs. Maryland in first round, 7 p.m. Thursday
189. Western Carolina (14-15, 4-5)
Last week: 189
beat UNC Greensboro (2), Elon, Appalachian State
lost to Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, Appalachian State, Davidson,
Elon
Southern Conference tournament: lost to College of Charleston
67-48 in quarterfinals
202. UNC Asheville (12-16, 5-3)
Last week: 199
beat Western Carolina, Gardner-Webb (2), High Point (2)
lost to Campbell, North Carolina, Duke
Big South tournament: lost to Radford 94-86 in semifinals
206. UNC Charlotte (11-19, 1-1)
Last week: 183
beat UNC Greensboro
lost to Appalachian State
Atlantic 10 tournament: lost to Saint Joseph’s 76-72 in first round
214. East Carolina (10-16, 3-2)
Last week: 208
beat Campbell, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro
lost to N.C. State, Wake Forest
Conference USA tournament: lost to Tulane 69-59 in first round
219. Gardner-Webb (10-17, 2-3)
Last week: 217
beat Western Carolina, High Point
lost to UNC Asheville (2), High Point
Big South tournament: lost to Liberty 88-77 in first round
251. Appalachian State (12-18, 6-5)
Last week: 258
beat UNC Charlotte, Campbell, Elon (2), Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro
lost to UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Davidson (2),
Western Carolina
Southern Conference tournament: lost to Davidson 84-68
in quarterfinals
254. N.C. A&T (13-15, 2-0)
Last week: 234
beat Winston-Salem State (2)
MEAC tournament: vs. Coppin State in first round, 8 p.m. Thursday
258. Campbell (12-16, 1-2)
Last week: 252
beat UNC Asheville
lost to East Carolina, Appalachian State
Atlantic Sun tournament: lost to Lipscomb 82-52 in quarterfinals
274. Elon (9-20, 1-8)
Last week: 280
beat Western Carolina
lost to Appalachian State (2), Western Carolina, Davidson (2),
UNC Greensboro (2), UNC Wilmington
Southern Conference tournament: lost to Chattanooga 79-78
in quarterfinals
Ernie Nestor has stepped down after six seasons as Elon’s basketball coach.
275. UNC Wilmington (7-25, 3-2)
Last week: 273
beat Appalachian State, N.C. Central, Elon
lost to Wake Forest, East Carolina
CAA tournament: lost to Hofstra 79-66 in first round
316. UNC Greensboro (4-25, 3-8)
Last week: 321
beat Appalachian State, Elon (2)
lost to UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, East Carolina,
Western Carolina (2), Davidson (2), Appalachian State
Southern Conference tournament: lost to College of Charleston
69-56 in first round
321. Winston-Salem State (6-21, 1-4)
Last week: 317
beat N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, N.C. State, N.C. A&T (2)
327. High Point (6-21, 2-3)
Last week: 326
beat N.C. Central, Gardner-Webb
lost to N.C. State, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville (2)
Big South tournament: lost to Radford 82-58 in first round
Bart Lundy is out as High Point’s basketball coach after a 9-21 season and a last-place finish in the Big South Conference.
338. N.C. Central (2-26, 0-5)
Last week: 339
lost to Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, High Point,
Winston-Salem State, N.C. State
