Saturday’s loss to Louisville did little to change how the Virginia Cavaliers were viewed in the ACC.
Coach Tony Bennett was named ACC coach of the year Sunday and Darion Atkins won the title of conference Defensive Player of the Year.
There’s more adulation. Point guard Malcolm Brogdon was placed on the All-ACC first team. Justin Anderson — who has missed the last eight games because of a fractured finger, then an appendectomy — joined the second team. Forward Anthony Gill is on the third team. Having three individuals put on all-conference teams tied a school record.
Bennett repeated as coach of the year. He is the ninth coach to be named ACC Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons, joining Everett Case of N.C. State (1954-55), Bones McKinney of Wake Forest (1960-61), Vic Bubas of Duke (1963-64), Dean Smith of North Carolina (1967-68, 1976-77), Norm Sloan of N.C. State (1973-74), Terry Holland of Virginia (1981-82), Dave Odom of Wake Forest (1994-95) and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1999-00).
It is the third career conference coach of the year honor for Bennett (two ACC, one Pac-10), who directed the Cavaliers to their second consecutive outright ACC regular season title in 2014-15.
Brogdon and Atkins are also on the All-Defensive team.
Brogdon is on the All-ACC first team for the second consecutive season. He joins Buzzy Wilkinson (1954-55), Jeff Lamp (1979, 81), Ralph Sampson (1981-83), Bryant Stith (1990-92) and Sean Singletary (2006-08) as the only Cavaliers to earn first-team honors multiple times.
Atkins if the first Virginia player to be named the conference defensive player of the year in the 11 years of the award.
No. 1 seed Virginia (28-2, 16-2 ACC) will play No. 8 seed Clemson or No. 9 seed Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 12. Tipoff at Greensboro Coliseum is set for noon.
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