Busting Brackets
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ACC Basketball: 5 bold predictions for 2020-21 season

By Trevor Sinodhinos

SOUTH BEND, IN - FEBRUARY 17: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dribbles the ball against John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on February 17, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - FEBRUARY 17: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dribbles the ball against John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on February 17, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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ACC Basketball
ACC Basketball Jay Huff (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Jay Huff wins ACC Defensive Player of the Year

Virginia Basketball can lay claim to four of the last six ACC Defensive Player of the Year winners. A lot of that has to do with them being notoriously stingy on the defensive end. Stating that the 7’2 pillar in the middle of a defense that gave up just 52.4 points per game last season, will be the top defensive player in the ACC seems possible, if not plausible.

The Cavaliers surrendered 10 points fewer than the next best defense of the Louisville Cardinals, and there is every reason to predict they will do the same this season.

Huff receiving the defensive distinction is less obvious when one has to date back to the 2016-17 season and refer to Ben Lammers of Georgia Tech to find out who the last center to win the award was. Prior to that, it was John Henson capping off his second-straight award while with North Carolina Basketball at the culmination of the 2011-12 season.

While history may not be on Huff’s side, the present landscape of the ACC does. Despite ranking seventh in Defensive Rebounding Percentage, fourth in Blocks Per Game, fourth in Defensive Win Shares, and was first in Defensive Rating and Defensive Win Shares, Huff was not selected to the ACC All-Defensive team.

With no members of the ACC All-Defensive team returning, which included teammate Mamadi Diakite, whose minutes will go to Huff, the path to individual accolades is a clear one for Jay Huff.