March 10, 2008

• 2008 ACC Basketball Tournament Site

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Tyler Hansbrough kept North Carolina among the nation's elite all season, and now the Tar Heels star is in some elite company himself.

Hansbrough became the third player in league history to be unanimously selected three times to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team in voting results released Monday by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward joined Virginia guard Sean Singletary as third-time selections by the 90 writers and broadcasters who voted. They became the 24th and 25th three-time first-teamers in league history and first since Maryland's Juan Dixon in 2002.

Hansbrough, the ACC's leading scorer (23.1 points) and rebounder (10.5) this season and a big reason why the top-ranked Tar Heels have the No. 1 seed for this week's conference tournament, joins NC State's David Thompson (1973-75) and Duke's Art Heyman (1961-63) as the only three-time unanimous first-teamers in league history.

Also making the first team were Boston College's Tyrese Rice, Duke's DeMarcus Nelson and Miami's Jack McClinton. Rice was picked to the second team last season, while McClinton was on the third team.

Balance was a staple of the three all-league teams. Ten of the 12 members placed at least one player on them, with Duke - which had three players make it - the only school with more than two. Georgia Tech and NC State were the only two schools not represented.

Rice (21.3 points) and Singletary (19.9) rank second and third in the league in scoring, and McClinton leads the ACC by averaging three 3-pointers per game and making 44 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Nelson, one of the league's best lockdown defenders, has been the glue guy who has kept Duke near the top of the league all season.

Maryland's Greivis Vasquez and James Gist joined North Carolina's Wayne Ellington, Virginia Tech's A.D. Vassallo and Clemson's K.C. Rivers on the second team. The third team was led by Duke freshman Kyle Singler and junior Greg Paulus, along with Florida State's Toney Douglas, Wake Forest freshman James Johnson and Clemson's Cliff Hammonds.

The league also announced its all-freshman and all-defensive teams, with two Duke players leading the way.

Singler was one of three unanimous picks to the all-freshman team, joining Johnson and N.C. State's J.J. Hickson. Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Jeff Allen of Virginia Tech rounded out the rookie team.

Nelson led all nominees with 68 votes for the all-defensive team, and joining him were Douglas, Gist, Boston College's Tyrelle Blair and North Carolina's Marcus Ginyard.

The voting breakdown for the 2008 all-Atlantic Coast Conference basketball teams, as cast by 90 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

All-ACC First Team
*Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (270)
Tyrese Rice, Boston College (261)
Sean Singletary, Virginia (257)
DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (250)
Jack McClinton, Miami (208)

Second Team
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (199)
James Gist, Maryland (186)
Wayne Ellington, North Carolina (158)
A.D. Vassallo, Virginia Tech (120)
K.C. Rivers, Clemson (115)

Third Team
Kyle Singler, Duke (107)
Cliff Hammonds, Clemson (101)
Toney Douglas, Florida State (98)
James Johnson, Wake Forest (69)
Greg Paulus, Duke (64)

Honorable Mention
Ty Lawson, North Carolina (59)
J.J. Hickson, North Carolina State (43)
Deron Washington, Virginia Tech (28)
Anthony Morrow, Georgia Tech (25)

ACC All-Freshman Team
Kyle Singler, Duke (89)
James Johnson, Wake Forest (89)
J.J. Hickson, North Carolina State (89)
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech (82)
Jeff Teague, Wake Forest (79)

Honorable Mention
Terrence Oglesby, Clemson (15)

ACC All-Defensive Team
DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (68)
Toney Douglas, Florida State (66)
Tyrelle Blair, Boston College (56)
Marcus Ginyard, North Carolina (46)
James Gist, Maryland (40)

Honorable Mention
Cliff Hammonds, Clemson (31)
D'Andre Bell, Georgia Tech (27)
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (24)
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech (22)
Deron Washington, Virginia Tech (16)
James Mays, Clemson (15)