Duke’s Carey, FSU’s Hamilton headline AP top honors in ACC

Duke freshman big man Vernon Carey Jr. is both The Associated Press player and newcomer of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton is the coach of the year.

Carey and teammate Tre Jones were the only unanimous picks to the AP All-ACC team announced Tuesday, a day after the league named Jones its player of the year. The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Carey earned eight votes for AP player of the year while Jones earned six in voting by 15 journalists who cover the ACC throughout the league’s 10 states.

Carey was the unanimous choice for newcomer of the year after averaging team highs of 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting nearly 58% for the 10th-ranked Blue Devils. It marks the third straight year a Duke player swept the AP awards as top ACC player and newcomer, following Marvin Bagley III in 2018 and AP national player of the year Zion Williamson last year.

Hamilton, who led the fourth-ranked Seminoles to the program’s first league regular-season title, earned 13 votes for AP ACC coach of the year while two-time reigning coach of the year Tony Bennett of Virginia earned the other two.

On the AP All-ACC teams, the Seminoles joined Duke as the only schools to have multiple picks, with Trent Forrest and Devin Vassell being second-team selections.

Syracuse’s Elijah Hughes, Notre Dame’s John Mooney and Louisville’s Jordan Nwora joined Duke’s Carey and Jones on the first team. North Carolina’s Garrison Brooks, Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe and Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite joined FSU’s Forrest and Vassell on the second team.