High Rollers - Duke Scorers Set An ACC Standard

Over the past decade Duke had three of the ACC’s leading scorers in a season, allowing it to move ahead of all other conference programs with 13 top point-producers.

The players who put Duke over the top were Marvin Bagley III in 2018 and RJ Barrett in 2019, breaking a tie with North Carolina that existed since Nolan Smith paced ACC scorers in 2011.

Last year the Blue Devils’ Vernon Carey finished third among league scorers with a 17.8 average, after Syracuse’s Elijah Hughes and Louisville’s Jordan Nwora. Fourth was Garrison Brooks of UNC.

Three schools that joined the ACC during the 21^st century have yet to provide a point-producing pacesetter: Louisville, Miami and Notre Dame.

Of note, UVa hasn’t had a top scorer since Jeff Lamp in 1979, including the period during which center Ralph Sampson won three straight consensus national player of the year awards (1981-83). Tony Bennett is the fourth Virginia coach since then, so the lull doesn’t solely reflect his stylistic approach.

Georgia Tech hasn’t produced a No.1 ACC scorer in 30 years, since Dennis Scott and “Lethal Weapon III” secured the school’s first Final Four berth in 1990.

Duke and NC State, courtesy of Anthony “Cat” Barber (23.5 in 2016) and Anthony “T.J.” Warren (24.9 in 2014), are the only programs that had multiple top scorers in the past 10 seasons.

The closest race for ACC scoring leadership occurred in 2019, when Barrett averaged 22.63 points in 38 games and teammate Zion Williamson finished with 22.61 in 33 games.