Was this a snub?
It’s been a tough year for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team. One of the true bright spots has been the play of Marcus Burton. The Irish sophomore led the conference in scoring with 23.5 ppg, so I guess I have to ask… is 2nd team a little bit of a snub?
From the ND press release:
Markus Burton Named Second Team All-ACC
Burton led the league in scoring at 23.5 ppg
CHARLOTTE – Notre Dame sophomore guard Markus Burton, who is the second-leading scorer in the country, plus the top scorer in the ACC, has been named to the All-ACC Second Team. A step up from last year’s Third Team honors, Burton is now a two-time All-ACC award-winner. However, it did mark the first time since 2017 that the league’s top scorer didn’t receive First Team honors.
Since coming back from injury on Jan. 4, Burton has produced 15 (out of a possible 18) games with 20+ points. He ultimately averaged a league-best 23.5 ppg in ACC play, beating out Miami’s Matthew Cleveland (21.3), Duke’s Cooper Flagg (21.2) and Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud (19.3).
Burton finished the regular season on another level. Since Feb. 26 (last four games), no one in the country has a higher scoring average than Burton. The Mishawaka native is averaging 31.5 ppg in that span on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor, 11-22 from beyond the arc and 39-46 from the free-throw line, all while also averaging 4.3 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.3 spg.
As a sophomore, Burton has already surpassed Notre Dame alum Bonzie Colson for most 30+ point career games in ACC play with four.
At the conclusion of league play, Burton ranked first in scoring, seventh in three-pointers (2.2), eighth in steals (1.6), 10th in free-throw percentage (.855) and 11th in field goal percentage (.445).
Some ACC highlights include:
A career-high 43 points in the four-overtime thriller over Cal, setting a new Notre Dame ACC-game record. It marked the most points by an Irish player since Adrian Dantley in 1975.
Became the seventh fastest Irish player to reach 1,000 career points, accomplishing the feat in 54 games.
Dropped 30 points at #13 Clemson then a few days later tallied 29 at Wake Forest.
Recorded 32 points in the double-overtime win at Boston College.
Lifted the Irish to a 71-68 win over Georgia Tech with 18 points in the second half, finishing with 26. Burton made back-to-back triples with less than 2:30 remaining.
Lastly, with a team-best 3.1 apg average, Burton is on pace to join Irish legend and Ring of Honor inductee David Rivers as the only two in program history to finish a season with 20.0+ points and 3.0+ assists.
Below is a complete breakdown of how the media and head coaches voted for the awards.
2024-25 ACC AWARDS
Player of the Year – Cooper Flagg, Fr., G/F, Duke
Defensive Player of the Year – Chucky Hepburn, Sr., G, Louisville
Rookie of the Year – Cooper Flagg, G/F, Duke
Most Improved Player – Donald Hand Jr., So., Boston College
Sixth Man of the Year – Jeremiah Wilkinson, Fr., G, California
Coach of the Year – Pat Kelsey, Louisville2024-25 ALL-ACC TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Points
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 400
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 392
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 364
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 328
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 257SECOND TEAM
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 241
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 238
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 225
Kon Knueppel, Duke, 208
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 150THIRD TEAM
Terrence Edwards Jr., Louisville, 125
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 72
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 72
Boopie Miller, SMU, 71
Jaland Lowe, Pitt, 62HONORABLE MENTION
Matthew Cleveland, Miami, 49
Andrej Stojakovic, California, 48
Naithan George, Georgia Tech, 40
Isaac McKneely, Virginia, 38
J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 32
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 29
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest, 26
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 23
Viktor Lakhin, Clemson, 20
Eddie Lampkin, Syracuse, 19Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).
Player of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 76 votes
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 4
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 1Defensive Player of the Year
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 32 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 26
Jaeden Zackery, Clemson, 8
Zack Austin, Pitt, 4
Maliq Brown, Duke, 3
Chad Venning, Boston College, 2
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 2
Sion James, Duke, 1
Mady Sissoko, California, 1
Tae Davis, Notre Dame 1
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest 1Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 79 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 2Sixth Man Of the Year
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 22 votes
Duncan Powell, Georgia Tech, 15
Ian Jackson, North Carolina, 13
Maliq Brown, Duke, 11
Kario Oquendo, SMU, 11
Isaiah Evans, Duke, 9Most Improved Player
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 25 votes
Jaylen Blakes, Stanford, 22
Tae Davis, Notre Dame, 8
Naithan George, Georgia Tech, 7
Jaland Lowe, Pitt, 7
Andrej Stojakovic, California, 4
Andrew Rohde, Virginia, 4
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 2
Eddie Lampkin, Syracuse, 1
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 1Coach of the Year
Pat Kelsey, Louisville, 47 votes
Jon Scheyer, Duke, 25
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 8
Kyle Smith, Stanford, 1All-Defensive Team
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 70 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 57
Jaeden Zackery, Clemson, 55
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 34
Sion James, Duke, 28
Zack Austin, Pitt, 28All-Rookie Team
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 80 votes
Kon Knueppel, Duke, 79
Ian Jackson, North Carolina, 65
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 59
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 4781 total votes
Note: coaches cannot vote for their players