North Carolina guard Caleb Love calls out ACC for snubbing Armando Bacot

With conference tournaments right around the corner, it’s that time of the year to reveal conference superlatives. North Carolina’s Armando Bacot earned First-Team All ACC honors, but his Tar Heel teammate Caleb Love thought he deserved more for the performances he’s had over the course of the 2021-22 season.

“Smh the real ones know Mando should’ve been player of the year,” Love tweeted.

Bacot was joined on the league’s first team docket by Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, Miami’s Kameron McGusty and Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim. Williams was the eventual winner of the ACC Player of the Year, while Bacot finished second on the list.

Williams finished with 41 votes, Bacot with 31, while Banchero earned six votes.

To Love’s point, Bacot averaged an ACC-high 14.1 rebounds in conference play during the regular season, which is the highest average in ACC history since Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan grabbed 14.9 rebounds per game in 1996-97. He also ranks No. 4 in ACC play in scoring with 17.4, third in field goal percentage (57.9), blocked shots (1.8) and 11th in free throw percentage at 75.5.

Add in the fact that he has 23 double-doubles (tied for the Tar Heel’s single-season record with Brice Johnson), on top of Bacot scoring at least 20 points in nine games this season while shooting 60 percent or better from the floor in 17 games this season.

Here is a complete list of the rest of the awards, courtesy of the ACC’s official website.

2021-22 ACC Award Winners
Player of Year: Alondes Williams, Wake Forest
Rookie of Year: Paolo Banchero, Duke
Coach of Year: Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Defensive Player of Year: Mark Williams, Duke
Most Improved Player: Dereon Seabron, NC State
Sixth Man of Year: Matthew Cleveland, Florida State

2021-22 All-ACC Team
First Team
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 380
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest, 373
Paolo Banchero, Duke, 372
Kameron McGusty, Miami, 315
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse, 241
 
Second Team
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech, 192
Dereon Seabron, NC State, 166
Wendell Moore Jr., Duke, 161
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame, 148
Jake LaRavia, Wake Forest, 147
 
Third Team
Dane Goodwin, Notre Dame, 131
Mark Williams, Duke, 119
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 119
Jayden Gardner, Virginia, 106
Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech, 105
 
Honorable Mention
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 84
PJ Hall, Clemson, 72
John Hugley, Pitt, 54
Charlie Moore, Miami, 42
Brady Manek, North Carolina, 38
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 22
AJ Griffin, Duke, 22
Paul Atkinson Jr., Notre Dame, 20
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 15
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 15
 
Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).