2005-06 ALL-ACC
(1st Team Vote - 3 points; 2nd Team Vote - 2 points; 3rd Team Vote - 1 point)
First Team (1st Team Votes)
J.J. Redick, Duke* (108) -- 324
Shelden Williams, Duke* (108) -- 324
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina* (108) -- 324
Craig Smith, Boston College (91) -- 304
Sean Singletary, Virginia (51) -- 262
*unanimous 1st-team

Comment: Overall, the voters -- 108 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA), including me -- got this one right. Redick, Williams and Hansbrough were no-brainers and deserved their unanimous selections. A strong case could be made for FSU's Al Thornton in place of either Smith or Singletary, but any fans or media who have vigorous, "this is a travesty"-style objections are crossing WAY over the line of reason, especially if their support is behind anyone besides Thornton.

Singletary put the least talented team (picked 12th) in the ACC on his back and led it to a 7-9 league record. He was the Cavaliers' best offensive player and one of their best defenders. He was the focus of every defense he faced. He scored in bunches, handled the ball well, hit his free throws, came through in the clutch and took massive amounts of pressure and attention (the unwanted kind) away from his teammates. To put it bluntly, he got beat up in much the same way Wake Forest's Chris Paul did a year ago.

Singletary was as tough, mentally and physically, as any player in the league. He bought into what first-year UVa coach Dave Leitao was selling, and that rubbed off on his teammates. Singletary left everything he had on the court, and he did that as consistently as anyone in the conference. Without him, the Cavaliers may have been 1-15 in the league. Yes, he meant that much.

Second Team
Al Thornton, Florida State -- 240
Guillermo Diaz, Miami -- 207
Justin Gray, Wake Forest -- 194
Jared Dudley, Boston College -- 176
David Noel, North Carolina -- 127

Comment: I actually put Robert Hite of Miami here and dropped Gray to the third team, but again I thought the votes overall were justified. Diaz and Gray didn't play enough defense to go any higher, and of course Wake Forest's horrible season didn't do Gray any favors, either.

Third Team
Eric Williams, Wake Forest -- 120
Cameron Bennerman, N.C. State -- 106
Robert Hite, Miami -- 104
Nik Caner-Medley, Maryland -- 84
J.R. Reynolds, Virginia -- 54
Reyshawn Terry, North Carolina -- 54

Comment: After some of the first-teamers, Hite, Dudley, Noel and Bennerman were the best "all-around" players in the conference, and frankly few others were even close. I also voted for Virginia Tech guard Jamon Gordon here, but he didn't earn even honorable mention honors. That kid can flat-out play, and he offers excellent intangibles, too.

This kind of voting should be about offense first -- after all, that's the one part they always keep track of on the scoreboard -- but defense has to be a significant part of the equation, too. E.Williams, Caner-Medley, Reynolds and Terry definitely were given the benefit of the doubt in that regard.

Honorable Mention (20 or more points)
Anthony Morrow, Georgia Tech -- 41
Alexander Johnson, Florida State -- 37
Cedric Simmons, N.C. State -- 25
Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech -- 23
Coleman Collins, Virginia Tech -- 21

Comment: Morrow is a very productive (and promising) offensive player, and Simmons took a big step from his freshman season. In my eyes, though, Johnson was the only one who should have been on the third team. In ACC games, he ranked in the top 20 in scoring and in the top five in rebounding. The only others who did that were S.Williams, E.Williams and Smith. Simmons? He didn't rank among the top 25 scorers in ACC games, and he rebounded at the same level as UNC's Terry (a forward) and Virginia Tech's Gordon (a guard). Simmons had a good season, but not an All-ACC season.

ALL-FRESHMAN
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina* -- 108
Greg Paulus, Duke -- 96
Bobby Frasor, North Carolina -- 77
Josh McRoberts, Duke -- 77
Tyrese Rice, Boston College -- 77
*unanimous

Comment: Hansbrough put forth one of the best first-year performances in the history of this great conference, and that's quite a statement. Paulus, Frasor and McRoberts got a break in the sense that there were very few other rookie starters this year. As first-stringers on the two best teams, they were going to make the all-rookie squad unless several other first-year guys consistently did amazing things off the bench. With the exception of Rice, that didn't happen.

Honorable Mention (20 or more votes)
Lewis Clinch, Georgia Tech -- 49
A.D. Vassallo, Virginia Tech -- 20

Comment: Both Clinch and Vassallo came on strong toward the end of the season, and in fact Clinch (9.1 ppg) almost tied Rice (9.2 ppg) for second in scoring among ACC rookies. Paulus finished second in the voting mainly because he led all rookies in assists, but Frasor, McRoberts, Rice and perhaps Clinch all made more big plays and fewer mistakes.

ALL-DEFENSIVE
Shelden Williams, Duke* -- 106
Vernon Hamilton, Clemson -- 91
Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech -- 63
Cedric Simmons, N.C. State -- 57
Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech -- 37
*unanimous / 106 voters

Comment: There's no nice way to put this: If you don't have an appreciation for what Williams does on defense, you just don't know basketball. I know the doubters are out there, and I know about the individual performances of several players against Williams this season. But I also know that Williams has blocked, altered and intimidated more shots than all but a few players in ACC history, and that he's asked to play a MUCH more prominent role (challenging far more shots from his own man and especially in a "help" capacity) defensively than any other big man in the conference. What he has done in recent years is nothing short of amazing.

Honorable Mention (20 or more votes)
Sean Dockery, Duke -- 32
D.J. Strawberry, Maryland -- 28

Comment: When Sports Illustrated asked some ACC players for their vote on the ACC's best defender, Dockery got more votes than anyone. That surprised me, because several coaches have called Dockery an overrated defender, and he often has been part of the problem during a season in which perimeter defense has been a serious issue for the Blue Devils. Finally, Strawberry would have been a much better choice for the first team than Dowdell, who made the team because of his steals numbers but isn't really an outstanding defender overall.

Clearly, it wasn't a great year for great defenders in the ACC.

Next time: See you at the ACC Tournament!!