As the NCAA Basketball calendar turns to February, every team is in full swing when it comes to conference play. Around this time is when we find out who are contenders and who are pretenders for the upcoming push into March. Before the season, all the coaches submit their picks for the First Team all-conference players and those picks are usually not fully accurate to what the final results are.
With a large enough sample size to this point, here’s what I think the Conference First Teams, as well as the Conference Player of the Year, for the Power 6, along with the Mountain West, will look like once the season is over.
ACC
Honorable Mentions
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse – 19.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG
Dereon Seabron, NC State – 18.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.5 APG
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech – 15.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG
Michael DeVoe, Georgia Tech – 19.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.2 APG
Paolo Banchero, Duke (Player of the Year) – The freshman phenom Banchero has been as advertised this season and is living up to his Top-3 NBA draft potential. He is putting up 17.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG for a Duke team that is ranked Top 10 nationally. Banchero has scored in double figures every single game so far this season and has nine 20+ point games.
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest – One of, if not the most surprising teams in the ACC this season is Wake Forest and a lot of that is thanks to Alondes Williams. Williams leads the conference in both PPG (19.6) and APG (5.3) and may be a sneaky pick as an All-American if Wake Forest continues the tear they’ve been on this season.
Armando Bacot, UNC – The junior big man in Chapel Hill is enjoying the best season of his career, averaging 16.5 PPG and 12.5 RPG, both great increases from his past two years. Bacot is also tied for first in the nation to this point in double-doubles with 17 and one of the bright spots on an otherwise underwhelming Tar Heels squad this year.
Kameron McGusty, Miami – In his fifth season of college basketball – and third with the Hurricanes – McGusty is putting up career numbers across the board with 17.5PPG, 5.9RPG, and shooting nearly 47% from the field. He is a vital part to the surprise season that Miami is putting together and will be a name to watch in March.
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke – The junior guard has had a breakout season for the Blue Devils, increasing in every statistical category and putting up 14.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 1.5 SPG. In the win over Gonzaga, Moore stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and six steals. He’s a very versatile player who impacts the game in many ways.