Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Win ACC Awards

Jones wins player of year, Carey takes top freshman
Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Win ACC Awards
Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Win ACC Awards /

Duke sophomore guard Tre Jones was voted the 2020 ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as Duke collected several individual honors in the conference’s annual awards release.

Jones, an honorable mention All-ACC pick last season, becomes just the second player in conference history to win Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, joining Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon in 2016.

The 2019-20 All-ACC Team was determined by a 75-person selection panel consisting of the league’s 15 head coaches and 60 members of the media.

Jones received 34 first-place votes for ACC Player of the Year, twice as many as any other player. He is averaging 16.2 points and 6.4 assists per game this season for the Blue Devils. A finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Jones also has a +2.4 assist/turnover ratio and averages 1.8 steals per game. He is averaging 17.8 points per game over Duke's last 16 games.

Jones joins Zion Williamson and Marvin Bagley III to give Duke the last three ACC Players of the Year. A total of 18 Blue Devils have won the honor, more than any other conference school.

Jones is also the third Blue Devil to win the Defensive Player of the Year, joining Shelden Williams in 2005 and 2006, and DeMarcus Nelson in 2008.

Duke's Vernon Carey Jr. was the runaway pick for ACC Rookie of the Year, claiming 70 of the 75 votes for the award. The native of Southwest Ranches, Florida, is averaging 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for Duke. He also is shooting 57.7% from the field while leading the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding. He owns 15 double-doubles this season – second-most nationally among all freshmen – and is a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for the nation’s top center.

Carey is the third straight Blue Devil to win Freshman of the Year and seventh in the last nine years. He’s the twelfth Duke player to win it, all time.

Jones and Carey became the 71 and 72 Duke players to be named first-team All-ACC. Duke has had a first-team pick each of the last 13 years, the longest active streak by nine years. It’s the 18 time that Duke has had multiple first-teamers.

Carey and Cassius Stanley were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Here are the complete awards voting results.

2020 All-ACC Men's Basketball Team

First Team

Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, 367

Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 359

John Mooney, Notre Dame, 351

Tre Jones, Duke, 348

Elijah Hughes, Syracuse, 305

Second Team

Mamadi Diakite, Virginia, 234

Devin Vassell, Florida State, 212

Garrison Brooks, North Carolina, 209

Trent Forrest, Florida State, 200

Markell Johnson, NC State, 101

Third Team

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 98

Jose Alvarado, Georgia Tech, 87

Aamir Simms, Clemson, 79

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 69

Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest, 63

Honorable Mention

Landers Nolley II, Virginia Tech, 58

Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech, 48

Brandon Childress, Wake Forest 44

Chris Lykes, Miami, 32

M.J. Walker, Florida State, 22

Braxton Key, Virginia, 16

Dwayne Sutton, Louisville 15

Steffon Mitchell, Boston College, 11

ACC Player of the Year

Tre Jones, Duke, 34

Jordan Nwora, Louisville, 17

John Mooney, Notre Dame, 11

Elijah Hughes, Syracuse, 7

Trent Forrest, Florida State, 4

Mamadi Diakite, Virginia 2

Rookie of the Year

Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, 70

Landers Nolley II, Virginia Tech, 2

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 2

Patrick Williams, Florida State, 1

All-Defensive Team

Tre Jones, Duke, 64

Mamadi Diakite, Virginia, 55

Trent Forrest, Florida State, 55

James Banks III, Georgia Tech, 34

Steffon Mitchell, Boston College, 30

All-Freshman Team

Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, 75

Cole Anthony, North Carolina, 55

Landers Nolley II, Virginia Tech, 54

Cassius Stanley, Duke, 36

Patrick Williams, Florida State, 29

Coach of the Year

Leonard Hamilton, Florida State, 62

Tony Bennett, Virginia, 12

Chris Mack, Louisville, 1

Defensive Player of the Year

Tre Jones, Duke, 45

Trent Forrest, Florida State, 18

Steffon Mitchell, Boston College, 8

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 3

Manny Bates, NC State, 1

Most Improved Player

Garrison Brooks, North Carolina, 17

Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest, 16

Devin Vassell, Florida State, 16

Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 10

Aamir Simms, Clemson, 6

Moses Wright, Georgia Tech, 6

Prentiss Hubb, Notre Dame, 2

DJ Funderburk, NC State, 1

Jay Huff, Virginia, 1

6th Man of the Year

Patrick Williams, Florida State, 35

Malik Williams, Louisville, 28

Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame, 9

Isaiah Wong, Miami, 3


Published
Shawn Krest
SHAWN KREST

Shawn Krest has covered Duke for the last decade. His work has appeared in The Sporting News, USA Today, CBSSports.com, ESPN.com and dozens of other national and regional outlets. Shawn's work has won awards from the USBWA, PFWA, BWAA and NC Press Association.