By Staff
By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH — Balance and depth were staples of the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, and the all-conference team announced Monday reflects that.
Five teams placed players on the all-ACC first team, with North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, Boston College’s Jared Dudley and Florida State’s Al Thornton unanimously selected by the 106 voting members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. They were joined by Virginia’s Sean Singletary and Virginia Tech’s Zabian Dowdell.
The first-team was comprised of the ACC’s five leading scorers, with Thornton leading the way with a 20.1-point average. Dudley and Hansbrough also were the league’s top two rebounders.
No school placed more than two players on the three all-conference teams, and each of the top four seeds in this week’s ACC tournament — No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 4 Boston College — were represented on the first team.
Dowdell was the only one of the five who wasn’t a preseason all-ACC pick. Hansbrough was a unanimous selection for the second straight year, while Singletary also repeated as an all-ACC first-teamer.
Hansbrough leads North Carolina with averages of 18.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, and had 26 points and 17 rebounds in the Tar Heels’ regular-season finale against Duke before his nose was broken late in the game as the result of an ugly foul. The sophomore center is expected to play in the conference tournament.
Singletary, a junior guard, also averaged 18.8 points and made 40 percent of his 3-pointers in leading the Cavaliers to a share of their first ACC regular-season title since 1995.
Dudley, a senior forward, ranked second in the league with 19.3 points, averaged an ACC-best 8.5 rebounds and led the Eagles to a third-place tie and the No. 4 seed. He was a second-team selection last season.
Thornton, a senior forward, followed up his second-team selection in 2006 by leading the conference in scoring. He was the only Florida State player named to the all-league teams.
Dowdell, a senior guard, averaged 18.3 points and ranked second in the ACC with 64 steals in leading the Hokies to a surprising sweep of North Carolina and the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, teaming with third-team selection Jamon Gordon in the backcourt to make Virginia Tech a factor in its new league.
Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds led the second team, which also consisted of Maryland’s D.J. Strawberry, Boston College’s Tyrese Rice, Duke’s Josh McRoberts and North Carolina freshman Brandan Wright.
The third team was led by Wake Forest senior center Kyle Visser, who was joined by Georgia Tech’s Javaris Crittenton, N.C. State’s Brandon Costner, Gordon and Miami’s Jack McClinton.