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Kyle Singler Named ACC Freshman Of The Year
3/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. ? On Tuesday the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Duke freshman Kyle Singler as the 2007-08 ACC Freshman of the Year and senior DeMarcus Nelson as the 2007-08 ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Singler, a forward from Medford, Ore., becomes the fifth player in Duke history to receive ACC Rookie of the Year honors. He joins Jim Spanarkel (1976), Mike Gminski (1977), Gene Banks (1978) and Chris Duhon (2001) as the only other freshman Blue Devils to receive ACC Rookie of the Year. Singler was named to the All-ACC third team and ACC All-Freshman team on Monday as well as the NABC and USBWA All-District teams in the past week.
During the regular season Singler ranked third among ACC freshmen in scoring (14.2 ppg.), fourth in rebounding (6.1), second in three point field goals made (49) and third in minutes played (28.8 mpg.). He has scored in double figures in 24 of the 30 games, including the last 12 games of the regular season. Singler received 40 votes, which was 14 more than Wake Forest's James Johnson.
Nelson, a guard out of Elk Grove, Calif., was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, becoming the third Blue Devil to win the award in the four years of its existence. Shelden Williams won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006 while Virginia Tech's Jamon Gordon won the award last season. Nelson, who was named to the ACC All-Defensive team on Monday, finished the season ranked fourth in conference only games with 1.94 steals per game and 10th overall with 1.63 steals per game. He was continuously called upon to guard the opposing team's top offensive scorer. Some of his top performances on defense included holding Marquette's Dominique James to 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting, forcing eight turnovers by Davidson's Stephen Curry, holding Virginia Sean Singletary to 12-of-28 from the field, 3-for-11 from three-point range and 11 turnovers in two games and holding Florida State's Toney Douglas to 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
Nelson was also named to the Fan's Guide Coaches' All-Defensive team on Tuesday for the second straight season. He received votes from eight of the 12 ACC head coaches, the second most in the league. He also received the second most votes last season. Duke now has had a selection in 12 straight seasons. The 18 overall selections to the team, which is more than the next two teams combined in Maryland (10) and Georgia Tech (7). Only Nelson and Florida State's Toney Douglas were picked to the team and also led their squad in scoring.
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