CoachL, McClellan, Rodriguez & Jekiri All-ACC

Jim Larrañaga is the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year, and Miami’s Sheldon McClellan, Angel Rodriguez and Tonye Jekiri have all earned ACC postseason honors, as voted on by Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, the league announced March 6. McClellan was named to the All-ACC Second Team, Rodriguez is on the All-ACC Third Team and Jekiri was selected for both the All-Defensive Team and was named All-ACC honorable mention. Coach L was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the second time in four seasons. He led the Hurricanes to a tie for second in the conference after being predicted to finish fifth in the league by the media this season, the fifth-straight season Larrañaga has exceeded preseason media poll expectations. This year the Hurricanes beat three ranked ACC teams, with back-to-back wins over top-15 teams in No. 3 Virginia and No. 11 Louisville as well as a victory over No. 24/20 Duke. Miami posted a perfect 9-0 conference record on the Canes’ home court, and improved its RPI from No. 16 prior to ACC play to the current No. 6 ranking. McClellan finished the regular season as the second-most efficient offensive player in the ACC and the 20th-most efficient offensive player in NCAA, according to KenPom.com. The Houston native posted the best shooting percentage among guards in the ACC (49.5%). He posted double-digit points in all ACC games and Miami was 5-0 when McClellan scored 20+ points in ACC outings. In ACC games, he was fourth in turnover rate (9.6), sixth in free throw percentage (83.5), ninth in points per game (15.8), ninth in true shooting percentage (60.7) and 17th in 2-point field goal percentage (54.6). He currently has 1863 career points, with 1020 at Miami and 843 at Texas. A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez posted the top assist rate in the ACC and recorded four or more assists in 10 ACC contests. Against Miami’s five ranked ACC opponents, he recorded 13.2 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.4 rpg and a 3.6 assist/turnover ratio. Rodriguez ranked third in steal percentage, third in assists (4.6), fifth in steals (1.5) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).). Against Pitt the 5-foot-11-inch guard had the game-winning tip-in, along with eight assists and 17 points. Other top performances included 13 points, 11 assists and 3-7 from three against Duke, and 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds vs. Louisville. He was 12th in the ACC in 2-point field goal percentage (56.1) and in 12 ACC games scored 10+ points, including four with 15+ points. ACC opponents score 16.0 ppg less when Miami’s 7-footer Jekiri is on the court (per 40 minutes). He is seventh in the ACC in defensive rebound percent and 11th in offensive rebound percent. The native of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, currently is the winningest player in Miami history with 93 victories. In NCAA rankings, he is 42nd in rebounds per game, 44th in total rebounds and 45th in defensive rebounds. He is eighth in the ACC in rebounding, seventh in defensive and eighth in offensive boards. This season, Jekiri averaged 9.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game against ranked teams, and he posted 15 10-rebound games this season, with 40 in his career. On ACC career charts, he is fourth in rebounds and seventh in blocked shots among current players.Third-seeded Miami opens play at the ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 10 at 9 p.m.in the quarterfinal round against No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Florida State or No. 14 Boston College. 

2015-16 ACSMA All-ACC Teams
(First-place votes, followed by total points)

All-Atlantic Coast Conference
First Team
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina 51 *255
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 51 *255
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 48 249
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 47 247
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson 32 213

Second Team
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 8 155
Sheldon McClellan, Sr., Miami 6 136
Demetrius Jackson, Jr., Notre Dame 3 130
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke 4 129
Damion Lee, Sr., Louisville 1 90

Third Team
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., Georgia Tech – 76
Anthony Gill, Sr., Virginia – 70
Zach Auguste, Sr., Notre Dame – 45
Michael Young, Jr., Pittsburgh – 37
Angel Rodriguez, Sr., Miami 3 35

Honorable Mention:
Justin Jackson, North Carolina; Tonye Jekiri, Miami; Zach LeDay, Virginia Tech; Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville; Marcus Paige, North Carolina; London Perrantes, Virginia; Devin Thomas, Wake Forest.

All-ACC Freshman Team
Brandon Ingram, Duke *51
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State 50
Malik Beasley, Florida State 49
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse 34
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest 28

All-ACC Defensive Team
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 49
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami 39
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 36
Landry Nnoko, Sr., Clemson 30
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 27

ACC Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 38
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina 9
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 3
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 1

ACC Freshman of the Year
Brandon Ingram, Duke 48
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State 1
Malik Beasley, Florida State 1
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse 1

ACC Coach of the Year
Jim Larrañaga, Miami 24
Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech 22
Tony Bennett, Virginia 2
Roy Williams, North Carolina 1
Brad Brownell, Clemson 1
Brian Gregory, Georgia Tech 1

ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia 39
Tonye Jekiri, Sr., Miami 9
Michael Gbinije, Sr., Syracuse 1
Marshall Plumlee, Sr., Duke 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 1

ACC Most Improved Player of the Year
Jaron Blossomgame, Jr., Clemson 21
Grayson Allen, So., Duke 15
Cat Barber, Jr., NC State 4
Zach LeDay, Jr., Virginia Tech 4
Ja’Quan Newton, So., Miami 2
Joel Berry, So., North Carolina 2
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Sr., Georgia Tech 1
Dennis Clifford, Sr., Boston College 1
Chinanu Onuaku, So., Louisville 1

ACC Sixth Man of the Year
Isaiah Hicks, Jr., North Carolina 19
Ja’Quan Newton, So., Miami 12
Luke Kennard, Fr., Duke 7
Tyler Lydon, Fr., Syracuse 6
Devon Bookert, Sr., Florida State 6
Sheldon Jeter, Jr., Pittsburgh 1