CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — After a spectacular season in which he led the North Carolina Tar Heels to the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, RJ Davis has been named the ACC’s Player of the Year.
Davis is the 15th UNC player to win the award and the first since Justin Jackson in 2017.
The senior guard averaged 21.1 points per game this season to lead the conference — the highest output for a Tar Heel since Tyler Hansbrough’s 22.6 points per game in the 2007-08 season. No other ACC player averaged more 19 points a contest this year, and Davis did it on the strength of high-percentage shooting.
The 6-foot-tall guard finished shooting 43.2 percent from the field overall (good for 15th in the league) and 41.6 percent from behind the three-point arc (fourth-highest in the ACC). Davis was also UNC’s most reliable player from the free throw line, finishing third in the league at 88.6 percent behind only Joe Girard of Clemson (95.6 percent) and Hunter Cattoor of Virginia Tech (89.7 percent).
The accolade qualifies the White Plains, N.Y. native to have his No. 4 jersey honored in the rafters at the Smith Center. His would be the 54th jersey to be raised up there, with eight of those numbers currently up there retired with the rest honored.
There’s sure to be talk of eventually retiring Davis’ number, as the guard is the only Tar Heel to ever compile at least 1,900 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 successful 3-pointers and 100 steals during his college career.
Davis is the program’s all-time leader in career free throw accuracy at 86.1 percent, and has the third-most three-point shots made in UNC history with 258. The guard is also currently ninth on the Tar Heels’ scoring list with 1,957 points and 17th in assists with 411.
The only North Carolina guards to score more points than Davis in their Chapel Hill careers are Phil Ford and Charlie Scott. The legendary Ford was named ACC Player of the Year in 1978 on his way to winning national player of the year awards, such as the second-ever John R. Wooden Award.