ACC Basketball: Zion, Jerome and White lead All-NCAA Tournament team

ACC Basketball: Zion, Ty Jerome and Coby White lead All-NCAA Tournament team

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 16: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after after a play on the way to defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Tacko Fall #24 of the UCF Knights blocks Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Zion Williamson – Duke

Is anyone surprised here? Zion was undoubtedly the best player in the entire NCAA this season and he carried that status and game play into the NCAA Tournament. Williamson put up 104 points in the four game span that Duke played in the Tournament, averaging 26 points per game.

His 104 total points is the most in over ten plus years of Tournament play. The last time this feat was accomplished was in 2008 by a future NBA Most Valuable Player, Derrick Rose, who played for the Memphis Tigers. It can be argued that Duke would have lost a round earlier, to Virginia Tech, without Zion’s incredible performance which included him playing all forty minutes of the game.

For a player of Zion’s size, who was injured less than a month ago, it is extremely impressive that he did not only last, but also perform at such a high level without rest during the game. Duke probably should have lost in the second round against the University of Central Florida Golden Knights, but Zion made an insanely athletic play against Tacko Fall to advance Duke to the Sweet Sixteen.

It really makes you wonder why RJ Barrett, as impressive as he was, took the final two shots for the Blue Devils at the end of regulation against Michigan State. Why does Zion, the greatest college basketball player all year, not get the opportunity to win the game with a trip to the Final Four on the line? It is a question I am sure many Cameron Crazies are asking themselves this week now that Duke has a long off-season ahead of them.