2026 MIDSEASON ALL-ACC:
Top 10 League Standouts
Include Four Freshmen,
Represent Nine Programs
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Feb. 9, 2026)
In the preseason, when the Atlantic Coast Conference conducted its just-for-fun All-ACC voting, the participating media correctly identified 10 of the most talented and promising players in the league.
Halfway through the conference’s 18-game league schedule, though, only four of those 10 players remained that high in the pecking order.
NC State forward Darrion Williams, who received the most votes for ACC Player of the Year back in October, has been a high-quality player for the Wolfpack, but he isn’t even close to being the top performer on his own team.
Two other preseason All-ACC honorees, Notre Dame point guard Markus Burton (15 games) and Louisville point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (eight games), missed too much time in the first half of the season to grab spots taken by highly productive players who were in the lineup as major contributors for the past three months.
Similarly, Duke guard Isaiah Evans, Syracuse guard JJ Starling and Georgia Tech forward Baye Ndongo all have played well — sometimes extremely well — for their teams this season, but a bunch of other guys have been even better on a more consistent basis.
This year’s Midseason All-ACC squad begins with a truly dynamic duo who were included on the preseason team about four months ago.
Duke forward Cameron Boozer and UNC forward Caleb Wilson have become virtual locks for both All-America and first-team All-ACC honors (those official votes are tabulated in March), and they also are universally viewed as high NBA lottery picks in the eyes of scouts.
(The statistics below are through Feb. 6, which marked the first time in the 2025-26 season all 18 ACC teams had played at least half of their 18-game conference schedules. The North Carolina Sports Network’s “Midseason All-ACC” balloting was conducted at that time. The analytics acronyms are referenced, with links to their accompanying sources, at the bottom of this article.)
2026 Midseason All-ACC Honorees
(The Top 10)
F Cameron Boozer, Fr., Duke
Stats: 32 mpg, 23 ppg, 10 rpg, 58% FG, 76% FT, 37% threes, 89/49 ATO, 42 steals, 12 blocks
Analytics: 35.7 PER, 13.8 BPR, 7.4 PRPG, 6.3 WS
A 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward, Boozer is the heavy favorite for ACC Player of the Year and among the favorites for National Player of the Year. He’s the ACC’s leading scorer and top rebounder, which is a heck of a starting point, but his value to the Blue Devils extends far beyond that of a traditional big man. He also is an outstanding 3-point shooter, an intelligent defender and a brilliant passer (his four assists per game lead the Devils) who plays with a calm, unflappable confidence rarely seen among first-year college players.
F Caleb Wilson, Fr., UNC
Stats: 31 mpg, 20 ppg, 10 rpg, 58% FG, 70% FT, 25% threes, 62/45 ATO, 34 steals, 29 blocks
Analytics: 31.3 PER, 9.0 BPR, 5.5 PRPG, 4.6 WS
A 6-10, 215-pound forward, Wilson has a few important things in common with legendary UNC forward Tyler Hansbrough, the program’s only previous freshman to earn All-America honors: toughness, intensity, relentlessness, fearlessness and, of course, high-level productivity. Stunningly, Wilson (17) already has surpassed Hansbrough’s record for most 20-point games by a Carolina freshman. If Wilson can sustain or improve his sensational averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, he even will finish above the Tar Heels’ current freshman record-holders in those categories — Hansbrough (18.9 ppg in 2006) and Antawn Jamison (9.6 rpg in 1996), who authored two of the other greatest rookie seasons in program history.
Stats: 28 mpg, 14 ppg, 4 rpg, 52% FG, 77% FT, 48% threes, 159/59 ATO, 40 steals, 1 block
Analytics: 23.6 PER, 8.3 BPR, 4.5 PRPG, 3.6 WS
During his first college season, Copeland was a little-used reserve under legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, and many thought he’d never be more than a role player at the ACC level. But Copeland improved during his sophomore season with the Orange, when he was an important player off the bench for coach Adrian Autry, and then he became an all-conference player during his single season at McNeese State, under coach Will Wade. Since following Wade to NC State during the offseason, Copeland has emerged as a legitimate first-team All-ACC candidate for the Wolfpack, given his combination of consistent scoring, brilliant passing, intense defense and fearless leadership from the point guard position.
C Henri Veesaar, r-Jr., UNC
Stats: 31 mpg, 17 ppg, 9 rpg, 62% FG, 62% FT, 46% threes, 45/36 ATO, 14 steals, 28 blocks
Analytics: 26.0 PER, 8.9 BPR, 4.8 PRPG, 3.9 WS
After rarely starting during his three years at Arizona, Veesaar clearly has become the best example of fifth-year UNC coach Hubert Davis signing and developing a transfer who truly blossomed under his tutelage. During his three years at Arizona, Veesaar started only five games. During his first three months in a Carolina uniform, Veesaar has started every contest, helped his new team to a top-15 national ranking, established himself as a first-team All-ACC candidate, and entered the conversation as a potential first-round NBA draft pick. Only Wilson and Veesaar have consistently ranked among the ACC’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots this season.
Stats: 35 mpg, 19 ppg, 4 rpg, 46% FG, 87% FT, 38% threes, 140/57 ATO, 36 steals, 2 blocks
Analytics: 22.9 PER, 7.2 BPR, 5.7 PRPG, 3.6 WS
Half of this 10-man Midseason All-ACC team consists of major college transfers, but Miller is the only one who went directly from one ACC program (Wake Forest) to another, joining the Mustangs just as they entered the league in 2024. A fifth-year senior who always has been renowned for his cat-like quickness, Miller gradually has made virtually every aspect of his game more efficient. Each of his shooting percentages (field goals, free throws, 3-pointers) is well above his previous career standards, his turnover rate is down significantly, and he’s the #1 reason SMU may be headed to its first NCAA Tournament in nine years.
F Malik Reneau, Sr., Miami
Stats: 28 mpg, 20 ppg, 6 rpg, 57% FG, 81% FT, 35% threes, 49/57 ATO, 17 steals, 19 blocks
Analytics: 28.4 PER, 7.6 BPR, 4.6 PRPG, 3.7 WS
This is one of the happiest homecoming stories in all of college basketball. Reneau grew up in Miami, but he lived about four hours from home (at Montverde Academy, near Orlando) for the latter half of his high school career, and he spent the first three years of his college eligibility at Indiana. A two-year starter and consistently productive player for the Hoosiers in the Big Ten, Reneau has become a superstar in the ACC for the Hurricanes, posting career-best averages in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, 3-point accuracy, steals and blocked shots.
G Ebuka Okorie, Fr., Stanford
Stats: 34 mpg, 21 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 82% FT, 31% threes, 68/33 ATO, 31 steals, 6 blocks
Analytics: 23.7 PER, 5.8 BPR, 5.6 PRPG, 3.3 WS
Whereas Boozer, Wilson and many other ACC signees ranked among the top 50 players in last year’s high school senior class, Okorie barely cracked the top 100. A 6-2, 185-pound combo guard, he was the 2025 player of the year in New Hampshire as a prep senior, and Stanford coach Kyle Smith raved in the preseason about his long-term potential, but nobody expected Okorie (who originally committed to play for Harvard, in the Ivy League) to be among the top players in the ACC — and one of the top 10 freshmen in the entire country — pretty much from the first time he put on a Cardinal uniform. His scoring average of 20-plus points per game has ranked among the ACC’s top five since his team’s season opener in early November.
F Thijs De Ridder, Fr., Virginia
Stats: 28 mpg, 17 ppg, 7 rpg, 54% FG, 70% FT, 37% threes, 36/44 ATO, 16 steals, 8 blocks
Analytics: 24.4 PER, 6.7 BPR, 3.9 PRPG, 3.3 WS
Yes, it’s highly unusual to have a 23-year-old freshman, but De Ridder is the best player on one of the ACC’s best teams, and that typically makes you a candidate for first-team All-ACC honors, much less the league’s All-Freshman team. A 6-9, 238-pound forward from Belgium, De Ridder personifies both college basketball’s tidal wave of international imports (reflecting the NCAA’s brand-new rules on revenue-sharing and relatively new rules on Name-Image-Likeness compensation) and the longer-standing prototype of European big men. He can beat his defender off the dribble, in the post or from 3-point land.
Stats: 33 mpg, 21 ppg, 6 rpg, 46% FG, 77% FT, 37% threes, 33/44 ATO, 36 steals, 7 blocks
Analytics: 23.4 PER, 5.1 BPR, 4.6 PRPG, 3.2 WS
Last year’s 15-man All-ACC squad didn’t include a single product of the North Carolina high school ranks, but Harris — who played at Salisbury High, which is located between Charlotte and Winston-Salem — is one of several candidates to end up on this year’s final ballot. (Duke’s Evans and NC State’s Paul McNeil Jr. also are in-state products.) After averaging about six points per game for Wake Forest last year, when he came off the bench as a true freshman, Harris has become one of the ACC’s elite scorers this season, while also significantly improving his field goal, 3-point and free throw percentages.
G Ryan Conwell, Sr., Louisville
Stats: 30 mpg, 19 ppg, 5 rpg, 39% FG, 84% FT, 35% threes, 54/36 ATO, 28 steals, 4 blocks
Analytics: 20.0 PER, 6.6 BPR, 4.2 PRPG, 3.1 WS
There are at least a half-dozen other viable candidates for this 10th and final spot, but Conwell was the #1 reason Louisville’s season stayed afloat while the Cardinals waited for Brown to get through both his significant injury issues and a challenging freshman learning curve. A crafty scorer who’s always on the attack, Conwell is no stranger to all-conference accolades. Now at his fourth school in four years, he earned third-team All-Big East honors while at Xavier last season, and he made the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team while competing for Indiana State in 2024.
Also Receiving Votes: Miami senior guard Tre Donaldson, Clemson senior forward RJ Godfrey, SMU senior guard BJ Edwards, Virginia Tech junior forward Amani Hansberry, Duke sophomore center Patrick Ngongba, NC State senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin, Duke sophomore guard Isaiah Evans, NC State sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr., NC State senior forward Darrion Williams.
NOTES: Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and Win Shares (WS) from BasketballReference.com; BPR from EvanMiya.com; PRPG from BartTorvik.com.
