The ACC’s voting method has changed to rely upon an opaque in-house group of 60, but this year the result at the top is the same. Both the media at-large and the ACC’s new, official all-conference voting have North Carolina’s Justin Jackson as the league’s 2017 Player of the Year.
Jackson was a worthy selection, even if Duke’s Luke Kennard was a better option. Those two were the top vote-getters on the secret voters’ All-ACC squad, and the most strikingly potent offensive players in the conference.
Kennard, the only unanimous choice on the sanctioned All-ACC squad, was superior to Jackson in key offensive categories – scoring (first through March 4) and official free throw accuracy (fourth) and 3-point acuity (second).