Justin Gray Named ACC Player Of The Week
11/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2004
Wake Forest junior guard Justin Gray, who scored 42 points last week in wins over Providence and No. 18 Arizona, was named the ACC Player of the Week today. Gray's performance led Wake Forest to the Preseason NIT championship and the Charlotte native was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Demon Deacon sophomore Chris Paul won the award last week as Wake Forest has won ACC Player of the Week honors in each of the first two weeks.
In the two games against the Friars and Wildcats, Gray scored 42 points, registered six three-point field goals and four steals. For the tournament, the junior guard shot 55.6 percent from the floor (15-of-27) including 42.9 percent from three-point territory (6-of-14). Against Providence, Gray received five stitches below the eyebrow in the first half, but came back to score 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from long range in Wake Forest's 79-67 win. Gray followed that performance with a game-high 21 points against Arizona while shooting 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Gray has been named ACC Player of the Week three times in his career, including two times last season. He is the first Deacon player to win the honor at least once in back-to-back seasons since Tim Duncan in 1996 and 1997.
North Carolina's Marvin Williams, who averaged ten points and five rebounds in the Tar Heels four wins over BYU, Tennessee, Iowa and Southern California, was named ACC Rookie of the Week. In the finals of the Maui Invitational, the freshman forward tallied 11 points and three steals to lead North Carolina to the 106-92 win over Iowa. Williams then scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting as the Tar Heels downed Southern California 97-65 in their first home game of the season. Williams, a native of Bremerton, Wash., also registered six boards, two steals and a blocked shot in 24 minutes of action against the Trojans.
