Can Kyle Filipowski challenge Armando Bacot, Terquavion Smith for ACC Player of the Year?
Only three times in the award’s history has a freshman been named the ACC Player of the Year. It is unique for a freshman to maintain the consistency throughout a season it takes to win the award. On Monday, Kyle Filipowski was awarded the ACC Rookie of the Week for the seventh time this season. The 7-foot-0 center has been a mainstay ahead of his freshman peers. Filipowski is the only player to win the 2022-23 award more than three times.
Naturally, Freshman of the Week and Player of the Year are entirely different categories. Filipowski is averaging a solid 15.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals while knocking down 50 percent of his shots in his 21 games.
However, the interesting part of this conversation is that Filipowski just gets better as the season continues. At the point when most freshmen hit a wall with inconsistency, Filipowski is playing as well as any player in the league.
He has been named the ACC Rookie of the Week in the past three weeks, and since the start of 2023 – seven games – Filipowski has averaged 19.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals while shooting 52.1 percent from two.
Kyle Filipowski was the No. 5 player in the 2022 On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Other players in the ACC Player of the Year conversation
NC State sophomore SG Terquavion Smith
0x named ACC Player of the Week
22 games, 18.5 points, 4.4 assists, 1.7 steals, 34.1% 3P.
Leads ACC in scoring, 2nd in steals, 8th in assists, 4th in 3PM
North Carolina senior C Armando Bacot
3x named ACC Player of the Week
20 games, 17.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 57.8% FG.
Leads ACC in rebounding, 2nd in scoring, 4th in FG%
Wake Forest senior PG Tyree Appleby
0x named ACC Player of the Week
22 games, 17.7 points, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 37.6% 3P.
Leads ACC in assists, 3rd in scoring, 2nd in steals, 11th in 3PM
Clemson senior F Hunter Tyson
1x named ACC Player of the Week
22 games, 16.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 41.7% 3P.
Leads ACC in double-doubles, 4th in rebounding, 7th in 3P%, 7th in 3PM
Pittsburgh senior G Jamarius Burton
1x ACC Player of the Week
20 games, 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 52.3% FG.
4th in ACC in assists, 11th in points, 11th in FG%
ACC Player of the Year
At this point, it is probably safe to say UNC’s Armando Bacot and NC State’s Terquavion Smith are the front-runners for this award. The other three players listed above would most likely be the second-tier players. Along with Filipowski, they do have a pathway to the award, provided things go exactly right.
There are still ten regular season games left. At this point last year, few were seriously considering Alondes Williams for the award, but he ended the season strong.
If Filipowski finishes the ACC season as strong as he started league play, anything could happen. Duke will have enough televised games; six of the ten will be on ESPN, and the media push will be there. A lot could also do with each team finishes their season as none of NC State, Duke, or North Carolina are currently ranked.
If this conversation does continue to grow, it is worth noting Duke’s final two games of the regular season are at home against Terquavion Smith and NC State and at North Carolina with Armando Bacot.
Could Kyle Filipowski make the push?