Blossomgame named first-team All-ACC, Most Improved Player |
CLEMSON, S.C. — Junior forward
Jaron Blossomgame was named first-team All-ACC and Most Improved Player on Sunday by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA). Blossomgame is the 13th player in Clemson history to be named first-team All-ACC. In addition, Tiger center
Landry Nnoko was named to the All-ACC Defensive Team.
Blossomgame was joined on the All-ACC First team team by Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Brice Johnson (North Carolina), Anthony Barber (NC State) and Grayson Allen (Duke). Blossomgame is the third ever recipient of the ACC’s Most Improved Player award.
The 6-7, 220-pounder put together one of the best individual seasons in Clemson history in 2015-16. Blossomgame is third in the ACC in overall (18.6 ppg) and ACC-game (20.7) scoring. He also finished the regular season sixth in the ACC in field goal accuracy (51.6 percent), while shooting a career-best 44.9 percent from three-point distance. Blossomgame scored 373 points in the ACC regular season, third-most in program history.
Blossomgame ranked among the league leaders with 15 games with at least 20 points, and three games of 30 or more. His top scoring effort was at NC State, where he poured in a career-high 33. He also posted 31 against No. 4 Virginia and 30 against Notre Dame. He also averaged over 20 points per game against top-25 teams, helping the Tigers to four such wins in the month of January.
Nnoko led the ACC in blocks per game (2.4) during the regular season, accumulating a career-high 71 over 30 games. He is the primary factor the Tigers lead the ACC as a team in blocks per game. Nnoko posted a career-best eight blocks at Virginia Tech, most by any ACC player in a game this season. Heading into the ACC Tournament, Nnoko is fifth in Clemson history with 212 blocks over his career.
2015-16 ACSMA All-ACC Teams
(First-place votes, followed by total points)
All-Atlantic Coast Conference
First Team
Brice Johnson, Sr., UNC 51 *255
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 51 *255
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 48 249
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 47 247
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson 32 213
Second Team
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 8 155
Sheldon McClellan, Sr., Miami 6 136
Demetrius Jackson, Jr., ND 3 130
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke 4 129
Damion Lee, Sr., Louisville 1 90
Third Team
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., GT - 76
Anthony Gill, Sr., Virginia - 70
Zach Auguste, Sr., Notre Dame - 45
Michael Young, Jr., Pittsburgh - 37
Angel Rodriguez, Sr., Miami 3 35
Honorable Mention:
Justin Jackson, North Carolina; Tonye Jekiri, Miami;
Zach LeDay, Virginia Tech; Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville;
Marcus Paige, North Carolina; London Perrantes, Virginia;
Devin Thomas, Wake Forest.
All-ACC Freshman Team
Brandon Ingram, Duke *51
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State 50
Malik Beasley, Florida State 49
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse 34
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest 28
All-ACC Defensive Team
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 49
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami 39
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 36
Landry Nnoko, Sr., Clemson 30
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 27
ACC Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 38
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina 9
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 3
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 1
ACC Freshman of the Year
Brandon Ingram, Duke 48
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State 1
Malik Beasley, Florida State 1
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse 1
ACC Coach of the Year
Jim Larrañaga, Miami 24
Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech 22
Tony Bennett, Virginia 2
Roy Williams, North Carolina 1
Brad Brownell, Clemson 1
Brian Gregory, Georgia Tech 1
ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 39
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami 9
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 1
Marshall Plumlee, Sr., Duke 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 1
ACC Most Improved Player of the Year
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson 21
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 15
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 4
Zach LeDay, Jr., Virginia Tech 4
Ja'Quan Newton, So., Miami 2
Joel Berry, So., North Carolina 2
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., Georgia Tech 1
Dennis Clifford, Sr., Boston College 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 1
ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Isaiah Hicks, Jr., North Carolina 19
Ja'Quan Newton, So., Miami 12
Luke Kennard, Fr., Duke 7
Tyler Lydon, Fr., Syracuse 6
Devon Bookert, Sr., Florida State 6
Sheldon Jeter, Jr., Pittsburgh 1
* Unanimous selection