Duke star Paolo Banchero wins ACC Freshman of the Year
Duke’s Paolo Banchero was named ACC Freshman of the Year on Monday morning.
Banchero has arguably been the best freshman in the entire country this season. He averaged 17.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest this season.
Duke has dominated this award in recent years. The Blue Devils have now won this honor in seven of the past nine seasons. Zion Williams, Marvin Bagley, Brandon Ingram and Jabari Parker are a few of the most recent winners.
Paolo Banchero has been named ACC Freshman of the Year.
He's the 7th Duke player to win this award in the last 9 seasons. pic.twitter.com/9AiIAb9igc
— Saturday Road (@SaturdayRoad) March 7, 2022
Banchero ended up running away with this award, garnering 72 first-place votes. Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley finished in second place with four votes. NC State’s Terquavion Smith and Duke’s Trevor Keels received one vote each.
Banchero is expected to be a contender for national freshman of the year. Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren is also a candidate to win that award.
The star freshman was also named first team All-ACC on Monday morning. Center Mark Williams won Defensive Player of the Year and coach Mike Krzyzewski finished in second place for Coach of the Year.
Duke will play either Florida State or Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.