Bill Dyer:Virginia Tech Sports Information
LEWISVILLE, N.C. – Virginia Tech guard Erick Green has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, as selected by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association on Tuesday.
Green received 38 of the 76 votes cast. Miami's Shane Larkin was second with 23 votes and Duke's Mason Plumlee was third with 12 votes.
The senior from Winchester, Va., becomes the first Virginia Tech player named the ACC Player of the Year. Green was named first team All-ACC yesterday by ACSMA.
"I am extremely proud of Erick," head coach James Johnson said. "This is an honor that is well deserved. This young man has put in numerous hours and has relentlessly worked on his game to put himself in this position. To have the respect of the media and for people to recognize what he has done for this team, in such a tough conference against very good players and very good coaches, says a lot about Erick as a player. Erick is a great kid on and off the floor and the award couldn't come to a better person."
Green is the third Virginia Tech player to earn a conference's Player of the Year award, joining Bimbo Coles in 1988 and Dell Curry in 1986, who won the Metro Conference Player of the Year Award. Green joins the late Len Bias of Maryland in 1986 as the only ACC Player of the Year honorees to play on a team in the bottom half of the league standings.
The nation's leading scorer, Green has scored in double figures in every game this season and leads the ACC in scoring in both overall games and conference games. He is averaging 25.4 points per game and is shooting 48.2 percent from the field. He also leads the ACC in minutes played (36.4 mpg).
Green set a new school record with 786 points scored this season, breaking the old mark of 785 by Bimbo Coles in the 1989-90 season. In the regular season finale at Wake Forest on Sunday, he scored his 1,700th career point and moved past Ace Custis into 10th place in career scoring at Virginia Tech.
The Hokies will return to action on Thursday, March 14, as they will play NC State in the first round of the 60th ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
