If North Carolina’s basketball players needed extra incentive for this week’s ACC tournament, the voters of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association may have delivered it in a big, bad way.
With today’s announcement that no one from the regular-season champs was voted first-team all-conference, the Tar Heels were clearly low-balled by voters.
Never before has an outright regular-season ACC champ failed to have a player on the first unit.
This season’s first-team members — Duke’s Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, Maryland’s Jordan Williams, Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Delaney and Boston College’s Reggie Jackson — had big seasons.
But can anyone seriously think the championship team didn’t deserve at least one first-team berth?
Tyler Zeller maybe, or John Henson, or Harrison Barnes? How about Zeller and Henson, for that matter?
Zeller, Henson and Barnes were the top three vote-getters on the second unit, and Kendall Marshall managed to land the final berth on the third team.
Barnes likely will be voted Rookie of the Year, and Roy Williams coach of the year, but the all-conference team is something many fans won’t soon forget. And in this case, the same may go for the snubbed players.
Columnist 
Comments
..Tudor..a REAL robbery was
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:39 — wjolly..Tudor..a REAL robbery was when Michael Jordan was the #1 ACC 50th Anniversary pick over David Thompson....UNC has MUCH MORE than their share of thefts of awards...this stuff about the All-ACC team is just your sour-grapes and your bias toward the light blue coming through....never profess to be unbiased ever again...
#1 ACC 50th Anniversary???
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 13:53 — KWCoronaWho...cares...
Is there no limit to how far the Wolfpack inferiority complex goes? If you see a Wolfpack fan today...give them a hug. They all need it. They need to feel like someone cares...even if no one does.
Who really cares?
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 11:57 — KWCoronaNo one except extreme memory freaks can even tell you who last year's 1st Team All-ACC team was. The fact that UNC is the regular season champion without a 1st Team selection is a great sign. It shows they are building around being a TEAM. The only reason this is a problem is because the fan base feels they are entitled to every award just because they are UNC. I am sure "W - The Coach" isn't losing any sleep over this "robbery."
No Snub
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 03:44 — LetsGoPittI guess Caulton wasn't feeling very creative; what a pedestrian column. There was no snub, as several have pointed out above, and the vote was split amongst Henson, Zeller and Barnes. Besides, it is not about having a guy named 1st team all-ACC, it is about winning the ACC. And I gaurantee you that if you asked Henson, Zeller and Barnes what they would rather have - being named 1st team all-ACC or finishing first as a team in the ACC - they would pick the latter. It's a team game, and the object is to win as a team, finish 1st, and earn a #1 seed, not necessarily landing more players on the first team ballot.
Split Vote
Tue, 03/08/2011 - 01:59 — cp1017In reality, it looks like the voters agreed UNC deserved a 1st team rep, they just couldn't agree on who that rep should be, Zeller or Henson.
Snub?
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 22:04 — lar923What snub? Placing four players on the three All-ACC teams, when no other school has more than two, is fitting recognition of the real strength of this team.
CT...wrong as usual
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 20:51 — heelsno1The Heels have not been robbed of anything that means anything. Your vote and the vote of your kind means absolutely nothing.
However, the Heels are the undisputable and worthy ACC Champions. The Heels do not have "tired legs", but Dook must have them (...since you earlier posted that "tired legs" are the reason Dook lost on Saturday). Such writing is just as lame as the All-ACC voting.
Who cares about this vote anyway...if Singler can be voted to the first team after his performance over the past month, the writers casting votes have zero gumption and the process has no credibility.
tar heel bias
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 21:13 — saltydawg1if singler plays his arse off in the ACC tourney, leads Duke to another title, and is named to the All-tournament team, you biased tar heel fans will be crying that he didn't deserve it, because of the way he has played in the past six weeks!!!
NO we won't !!!! He needs to
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 21:37 — unc098NO we won't !!!! He needs to put up or shut up.
Delaney
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 20:49 — billayMalcom Delaney can be a prolific scorer, of that there can be no doubt. But his attitude stinks, and frankly, I'm not sure he's not a curse on that VT team. I'm just not sure that I'd want a guy like that on my team, regardless of how much he can stuff a box score. There should be more to a spot on the ACC first team than a ppg average.
Singler deserving
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 20:41 — saltydawg1As rotten as Singler has been recently, this vote was for season-long performance, not just the past six weeks. The stats don't lie. For the majority of the season. he outperformed any one single tar heel.
The tar heels won the title because they had the best team.......not the best individuals. If you want to base everything on the past six weeks, then Marshall should have been first team.
No surprise that tudor is crying in his beer!!!
All conference ...
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 22:07 — gvillegatrNot all non conference. Singler made this team bc of his four years of service plain and simple. I'm not all that concerned in the end or I'd be acting a little more like a fanatic in this post.
Should these four all come back next season, the Heels may have four 1st teamers ...
Singler should be second
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 19:39 — chrismg1Singler should be second team at best. He has been fading as of late and arguably is the third best player on his team right now. Who on UNC should take his spot is a tough one. Zeller, Henson, and Barnes are all equally deserving.
GRRRRR........sic em' guys.
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 18:25 — unc098GRRRRR........sic em' guys.
Math
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 18:22 — gvillegatrIMO, Henson, Zeller and Barnes cancelled each other out. KM probably took some votes as well.