Projecting someone will earn recognition as ACC Player of the Year is a lot more difficult than it appears, what with unanticipated injuries, slumps, team stumbles, wandering attention, and exaggerated reputations based on past performance.
Counting Kyle Filipowski a month ago, 25 players since 2001 were preseason selections as the league’s player of the year. That includes a pair of guards, Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon and UNC’s Marcus Paige, who shared the honor in 2016.
A grand total of four of the two dozen honorees in this century prior to Filipowski were chosen POY at season’s end. Four of 24 translates to one in six (16.