North Carolina’s Marcus Paige, the recipient of the league’s Skip Prosser Award for the second straight year, headlines the annual All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Men’s Basketball team, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.
To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.
The Skip Prosser Award is presented annually to the top scholar-athlete in ACC men’s basketball. It is named in memory of Wake Forest head basketball coach George Edward “Skip” Prosser, who passed away on July 26, 2007. Prosser compiled a 291-146 career record in 14 seasons as a head coach, including a 126-68 mark in his six years with Wake Forest. Every Wake Forest senior he coached graduated, and the Deacons placed nine players on the annual All-ACC Academic Basketball Team during his tenure.
To be nominated for the Skip Prosser Award, a student-athlete must be an upperclassman with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better – both in his career and in the previous two semesters. Sixty percent of the award is based on academic achievement and 40 percent on athletic accomplishments.
Clemson guard Cliff Hammonds (2008), Miami guard Jack McClinton (2009), Virginia center Jerome Meyinsse (2010), North Carolina center Tyler Zeller (2011 and 2012), Duke center Mason Plumlee (2013), Pittsburgh guard Cameron Wright (2014) and Paige (2015) are past Skip Prosser Award recipients.
Paige, a 6-1, 175-pound senior from Marion, Iowa, ranks fourth on the eighth-ranked Tar Heels in scoring (12.1) and is second in assists (3.7) while starting all 24 games since returning from a broken hand suffered in preseason. The Media and Journalism/History double major currently ranks first among current ACC players in career points (1,706), 3-point field goals made (272), steals (192), second in assists (563) and second in free throw percentage (.847).
“Marcus Paige has accepted and met the challenges of succeeding both academically at a world-class university and athletically in the finest basketball conference in the country,” said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. “He has played outstanding basketball and been a tremendous leader for our team for four seasons, while also embracing the academic rigors and opportunities that a great university offers. He is a young man who put his mind to succeeding at, not just one, but two majors and has done so while representing our university with class and distinction. Skip Prosser would be proud to have Marcus’s name on his award in each of the last two seasons.”
Headed by Duke sophomore Grayson Allen, the ACC’s second-leading scorer at 21.0 points per game, seven of the academic honorees are averaging in double figures.
Louisville sophomore Chinanu Onuaku ranks third in the ACC in blocked shots (2.0) and seventh in rebounds (8.6). Clemson senior Jordan Roper is fourth among league leaders in assists-to-turnover ratio (3.15:1) and ninth in steals (1.3).
Miami’s Davon Reed ranks ninth in free throw percentage (.804), while NC State’s Maverick Rowan is fifth in 3-point field goals per game (2.3).
Allen has been selected ACC Player of the Week twice this season while Paige was named once. Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon has five ACC Rookie of the Week honors to his credit while scoring in double figures in all but three games this season.
Paige and Duke’s Amile Jefferson each earned a spot on the league’s academic honor team for the fourth time in their respective careers. Clemson’s Jordan Roper earned academic recognition for a third time while Allen, Onuaku, Reed, Louisville Mangok Mathiang and Quentin Snider, Georgia Tech’s Tadric Jackson and Virginia Tech’s Devin Wilson earned spots on the honors team for a second time.
The 2016 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team is as follows:
Deng Adel, Louisville
Grayson Allen, Duke
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Gabe DeVoe, Clemson
Jalen Hudson, Virginia Tech
Tadric Jackson, Georgia Tech
Amile Jefferson, Duke
Chase Jeter, Duke
Cameron Johnson, Pittsburgh
Trey Lewis, Louisville
Ryan Luther, Pittsburgh
Rafael Maia, Pittsburgh
Mangok Mathiang, Louisville
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Donovan Mitchell, Louisville
Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Rex Pflueger, Notre Dame
Davon Reed, Miami
Jordan Roper, Clemson
Maverick Rowan, NC State
Matt Ryan, Notre Dame
Quentin Snider, Louisville
Raymond Spalding, Louisville
Damon Wilson, Pittsburgh
Devin Wilson, Virginia Tech