Duke basketball extends lead on ACC after major conference honors

Duke basketball extended its lead over the rest of the conference after the ACC honors. 

It has become customary for the Duke basketball team to rack in the honors following the regular season from the ACC and this year was no different.

Freshman Kyle Filipowski brought home the biggest award for the Blue Devils after being named as the ACC Rookie of the Year following his debut season in Durham in which he posted 15.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.

Filipowski became Duke’s 14th ACC Rookie of the Year honor and since 2012 the Blue Devils have housed the award’s winner nine times while the rest of the ACC has only seen three other players get the distinguished honor.

It was nearly a unanimous victory for the 7-foot freshman after gathering 68 votes for the ACC Rookie of the Year while Judah Mintz of Syracuse was the only other place to receive votes with the award with seven votes.

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Kyle Filipowski was snubbed from a selection on the All-ACC First Team but was placed on the All-ACC Second Team and ACC All-Freshman Team for his efforts this season.

Filipowski only earned three votes, fifth most in the league, for ACC Player of the Year.

Other Duke basketball players recognized by ACC

Junior captain Jeremy Roach was named as an All-ACC Honorable Mention after a strong season that was halted at points by injury.

Roach was given one vote in each race for the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Most Improved Player.

Tyrese Proctor and Dereck Lively II joined Kyle Filipowski on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

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Lively II was the only Blue Devil selected to the ACC All-Defensive Team and came in fourth place for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Ryan Young and Dariq Whitehead received seven and six votes, respectively, for the ACC Sixth Man of the Year.

Duke will play either Pittsburgh, Florida State, or Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon (2:30p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2) in Greensboro.