ACC Media Day: Players overwhelmingly say UNC's RJ Davis is the league's toughest player to play against

ACC Media Day took place in Charlotte, North Carolina last week. A pre-approved group of media members are joined by each coach from the ACC and (mostly) two players from each team. On3’s Jamie Shaw was one of the media members who was given access. Throughout the course of the conversation, one of the topics discussed with the players was who the toughest player to guard was in the ACC.

An overwhelming majority of players cited UNC senior guard RJ Davis. After all, Davis is the reigning ACC Player of the Year after averaging 21.2 points and 3.5 assists on 39.8 percent shooting from three. Some of the things discussed that made Davis so difficult were his shooting, his quickness, his aggression, and his teammates.

Davis was not the only returning player in the ACC that was discussed. Boopie Miller (SMU), Hunter Sallis (Wake Forest), and Nijel Pack (Miami) all got some love from various players as well.

After talking with the players at ACC Media Day, let’s hear who they had to say was the most difficult player to go against in the ACC.

UNC guard RJ Davis

“It’s RJ Davis. He’s just extremely quick, can really shoot it, and score at all three levels. He was the player of the year for a reason.” – Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis

“I would say RJ Davis is a great player. He can do a lot. He can create, he can create his own shot, he can pass well, and then he always has other great teammates around him, so you can’t just worry about him. You got to make sure you bring your A-game against him, for sure.” – Clemson guard Chase Hunter

“The toughest player to defend has been RJ Davis, from North Carolina. You just got to respect his shots and you got to get up into him, but he’s super, super quick. He is tough to stay in front of. He is tough to go against and I got a lot of respect for him and his game.” – Virginia guard Isaac McNeeley

“Man, RJ Davis. He’s a great guard who is very aggressive and he makes winning plays for the team. He has had success with his program. He is the toughest one.” – Syracuse guard JJ Starling

“RJ Davis is the toughest player. He’s so quick and his change of direction, he can just do it in a blink of an eye. It’s just so hard to stay in front of him. Yeah, he’s a problem.” – Notre Dame wing JR Konieczny

“I don’t want to even give him his credit like this, but RJ Davis. He is for sure a tough matchup. He makes shots. The thing with him is that he is going to get what he wants, you just have to stop everyone else. He’s definitely the toughest player to guard in the league.” – Syracuse wing Chris Bunch

“I would say the toughest player to guard is RJ Davis. Especially when they are running so much ball screen stuff. You have to be out there hedging and all that, he performed pretty well against us.” – Virginia Tech center Mylyjael Poteat

Who did RJ Davis say?

With all these conversations I was having with players from around the league having trouble matching up with RJ Davis, I was interested in talking with Davis. So naturally, I wanted to hear, from him, about who he thought was the most difficult matchup in the league.

“I would say, Hunter Sallis, from Wake Forest, is a really good player,” Davis told On3. “I always look forward to those good matchups. It’s just how good of a guard he is, and how much pressure he puts on the rim. His ability to score the ball. I feel like it’s always a great matchup with him.”

Sallis, a 6-foot-5 senior guard at Wake Forest, averaged 18.0 points last season on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent from three.

Other players mentioned

“Nijel Pack. I had to guard him during my freshman year. You know, he is just a veteran guard. He is savvy, got to his spot, and used his body well with stepbacks and all that. I didn’t get to play against him last year because I was hurt.” – UNC guard Seth Trimble

“Boopie Miller, he is at SMU now. He is just a real crafty guard, something you understand when you play that same position. He’s really crafty and knows how to use his body well at his size. His speed and knack for drawing fouls and all that. He was the toughest for me.” – Pittsburgh guard Jaland Lowe