Player of the Week:
Isaiah Wong, PG/SG, No. 14 Miami Hurricanes
Wong isn’t just the early favorite for ACC Player of the Year, he’s emerging as a sleeper candidate for the Wooden Award as well. His latest display of dominance came in an upset win over No. 6 Virginia, as he poured in 24 points to send the Canes to the top of the conference standings.
With this win, Miami looks like the early favorite to bring home the conference crown and Wong’s play is the biggest reason why. There’s no one else I’d want leading my backcourt in all of college basketball right now.
Who’s Hot?
Armando Bacot, C, No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels
The secret to North Carolina’s success of late? Feeding Armando Bacot. The season looked lost at the beginning of the month, but a four-game winning streak, including two wins over formidable Big Ten opponents, has the Heels back in the AP rankings.
Bacot averaged 27 points and 10 rebounds in those wins over Michigan and Ohio State and as long as he stays consistent, Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels can rediscover the magic that sent them to the national championship game last spring.
PJ Hall, C, Clemson Tigers
Only three teams in the ACC remain unbeaten, in conference play, and PJ Hall ensured that Clemson would be one of them with an impressive performance at Georgia Tech. No road wins in this conference will come easy, but when your center scores 25 points and grabs 10 rebounds, it makes things a lot easier. That’s what Hall did and that’s what has the Tigers 10-3 to start the season.
Who’s Not?
Kyle Filipowski, PF/C, No. 17 Duke Blue Devils
Filipowski reached double-figures in the first 12 games of his career, but that streak came to an end in a frustrating upset loss to Wake Forest last Tuesday. The freshman forward missed all six of 3-point attempts, registered five turnovers and committed four fouls in 27 minutes in what was easily the worst game of his young career.
Dane Goodwin, SG, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Before his bounce-back performance against Jacksonville this week, Goodwin was in a shooting slump that he hasn’t experienced in his long career with the Irish. The 6-6 guard was held to just two points against Florida State and failed to reach double-digits in the three games prior to that. If the Irish want to turn their season around, it starts with Goodwin finding more confidence in his shot.
Freshman of the Week:
Judah Mintz, SG, Syracuse Orange
Syracuse’s dazzling freshman continues to show why he is one of the top freshmen in the country. With tons of recruits failing to live up to expectations, Mintz is exceeding his own, but his 24 points and five steals weren’t quite enough to knock off Pitt last Tuesday. Despite the loss, the future looks bright for the young star of the Orange.
Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions in the ACC
5. Pittsburgh Panthers: Don’t fall apart
This isn’t the first time in the Jeff Capel era that the Panthers started hot and looked ready to change the course of the program. Sure, the schedule hasn’t been difficult, and they’ve already lost a few games, but a 2-0 start to conference play is something to be excited about in Oakland. The door is open to make a run toward the NCAA Tournament, especially because they’ve stolen road games against solid foes in Syracuse and NC State.
4. Virginia Cavaliers: Defend their home floor
On their home floor is where it all went wrong for the Cavaliers last season. An 11-7 record in Charlottesville simply wasn’t enough to send them to the NCAA Tournament. Losing to Houston is excusable, but there is no reason to lose any more home games in 2023.
3. Louisville Cardinals: Score more
If you’re going to lose a lot of games, at least make them fun to watch. The Cardinals didn’t seem to get that message. They only average 61 points per game, so in 2023, let’s try to get that number up a little bit if they won’t figure out how to win a few conference games.
2. Caleb Love: 3’s please
The biggest development in Love’s game from his freshman to sophomore year was from beyond the 3-point arc. He made the jump from 26 to 36 percent last year, but the number is back down to 29 this year. The magic is starting to return to Chapel Hill, but they need their superstar to rediscover his jumper when the calendar turns next week.
1. Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively: Start to live up to the hype
Jon Scheyer’s first recruiting class was lined up to be a special one that could rival the 2018 class of Zion, Barrett and Reddish. The first-year head coach claimed three of the top four recruits according to 24/7 Sports, including ESPN’s top two recruits, but two of them are struggling severely in Durham. Injuries are damaging their seasons, but Lively and Whitehead haven’t looked as advertised even when they’ve found themselves on the floor.