DUKE GRADS INFILTRATE STATE NEWSPAPERS’ SPORTS’ DEPARTMENTS

How else can one explain Josh “Irish Julia” McRoberts getting seven votes for Defensive Player of the Year after UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough, FSU's Al Thorton, Virginia Tech's Deron Washington and BC’s Jared Dudley ran roughshod over the Blue Devil sophomore all year? Two of those votes, no doubt, came from the Durham Herald-Sun and the Durham Independent, but from where in the world did the other five come? Rumor has it that the Sylva Herald & Ruralite, The Yadkin Ripple, the Smoky(ing?) Mountain News, the Lumberton Robesonian and the Fuquay-Varina Independent cast the other deciding votes. All employ Duke grads in their Sports Departments. McRoberts was the only Duke player tapped in any of the year-end categories save one: Weirdest Crazy Faces of the Year: John Scheyer – Duke (106). No second. No third.

(The voting for the 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams, as done by 106 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, with first-team votes in parentheses and total points. I know it’s almost impossible to believe, but TAH is not a member of the ACSMA. Losers.)

COACH OF THE YEAR: Dave Leitao - UVA (64), Gary Williams - MD (19), Seth Greenberg - VT (15). Leitao is the first Virginia coach to win the award in 25 years.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jared Dudley, BC (45), Al Thorton – FSU (30), Tyler Hansbrough UNC (18), Sean Singletary (12), Tyler Hansbrough’s Nose – UNC (1). Thorton is the first BC player to win the award. We would have voted for Singletary based on "most valuable to his team's success."

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jamon Gordon – VT (54), Zabian Dowdell – VT (12), D.J. Strawberry (12), Ekene Ibekwe - MD (8), Josh Mc Roberts – Duke (7). Note that the ACC officials felt compelled to list 5 players in this category and only four in all the others and the 5th player was from Duke. Curious, no?

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Brandon Wright – UNC (49), Javaris Crittenton – GT (27), Brandon Costner – NCSU (23). This is the third straight year a Tar Heel frosh has won the award. Wright follows Hansbrough and Marvin Williams.

ALL-ACC TEAMS

FIRST TEAM
JARED DUDLEY, Boston College (106), 318*
TYLER HANSBROUGH, North Carolina (106), 318*
AL THORNTON, Florida State (106), 318*
SEAN SINGLETARY, Virginia (100), 312
ZABIAN DOWDELL, Virginia Tech (90), 302
*unanimous

SECOND TEAM
J.R. REYNOLDS, Virginia (20), 232
D.J. STRAWBERRY, Maryland (2), 180
TYRESE RICE, Boston College, 177
JOSH McROBERTS, Duke, 159
BRANDAN WRIGHT, North Carolina, 150

THIRD TEAM
KYLE VISSER, Wake Forest, 120
JAVARIS CRITTENTON, Georgia Tech, 104
BRANDON COSTNER, N.C. State, 94
JAMON GORDON, Virginia Tech, 61
JACK McCLINTON, Miami, 48

HONORABLE MENTION
BEN McCAULEY, N.C. State, 36
JAMES MAYS, Clemson, 34
DEMARCUS NELSON, Duke, 34
JAMES GIST, Maryland, 28
EKENE IBEKWE, Maryland, 21
TYLER HANSBROUGH’S NOSE, UNC, 1