Wake Forest's Aminu, Harris, Smith and Williams Earn ACC Honors
3/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2010
ACC Postseason Awards in PDF Format 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu and Ishmael Smith were named second team All-Atlantic Coast Conference, L.D. Williams was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team and C.J. Harris was selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association on Monday.
Aminu, a sophomore forward, was the leading vote getter on the second team with 126 points. A player earns three points for a first-team vote, two for a second-team and one for a third-team vote. Aminu was eight points shy of Duke's Kyle Singler, who nabbed the final spot on the first team.
This marks the second straight season in which Wake Forest's leading vote getter fell just shy of earning first team honors. Jeff Teague was three points shy of the first team in 2009.
Aminu finished the regular season averaging 15.9 points and a league-leading 10.8 rebounds per game. He is the only player in ACC who is averaging a double-double, and he leads the conference with 18 total double-doubles on the season. Aminu, who ranks in the top 10 in the ACC in eight statistical categories, is trying to become the first Deacon to lead the ACC in rebounding since Tim Duncan in 1997.
Smith, a senior guard, earned second team All-ACC honors. It is the first postseason conference accolade of Smith's career. The 6-0 point guard has had a breakout season in his senior year, averaging 13.3 points and 6.0 assists. Smith is the only player ranked in the top five of the ACC in both assists (2nd) and steals (3rd). He is also the only player in the country 6-0 or shorter with 19 blocks on the year. Smith currently ranks seventh in the country in assists per game.
Harris earned 41 votes to make the five-man ACC All-Freshman Team. The Freshman and Defensive teams are tabulated exclusively on vote totals and without weighted status.
Harris finished the regular season as Wake Forest's third-leading scorer with 10.0 points per game. A four-time ACC Rookie of the Week honoree, Harris ranks fourth in the conference in free throw percentage at 84.2 percent. The 6-2 guard is a steady three-pointer shooter, making 32 of 94 for 34 percent from beyond the arc.
Williams is a two-time ACC All-Defensive Team honoree after being named to the team in 2009. The senior guard serves as the Deacons' top lockdown defender. One of five players chosen to the Defensive Team, Williams received 16 votes. He led one of the stingiest defenses in the country this season. Behind the play of Williams, Wake Forest ranked fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.379). The Deacons were also seventh in the country in three-point percentage defense (.283).
At least one Demon Deacon has earned All-ACC honors 13 consecutive seasons and in 20 out of the last 21 seasons. This marks the second straight season that Wake Forest has had multiple All-ACC picks after Teague and James Johnson (3rd team) earned the honors last year.
ACSMA will release the ACC Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards on Tuesday afternoon.
