Recent article talked about how Duke has to replace the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft *and* the ACC Player of the Year. Checked to see when the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft from an ACC school (10 #1 overall from ACC) was not also the ACC Player of the Year (happened 4 times).
#1 overall ... ACC POY
2011: Kyrie ... Nolan Smith
1999: Elton ...
1997: Duncan ...
1995: Joe S. ...
1986: Brad D ... Len Bias
1983: Ralph ...
1982: Worthy ... Ralph Sampson
1976: Lucas ... Mitch Kupchak
1975: David T ...
1963: Art Heyman ...
Then I guess you don't know what I was trying to do at all, as I was not 'comparing' anything, simply exploring whether other years produced a #1 overall pick, and if the same player won ACC POY, and if not, why ... not a comparison of one year to another at all, moreso way to focus on a single year and the circumstances that led to the outcome. This year is very easily understood; as is when Worthy was #1 overall but underclassman Sampson won POY. The Brad Daugherty/Len Bias is interesting: I thought Bias was transcendent and would've picked him #1 overall no matter my short term NBA team needs or desire for a solid big man (and would, of course, have suffered the horrible consequences). The exercise made me focus on 1976: Kupchak was a very solid player -- 17 some pts and 11 rebs for the first place team, but he had a lot of help in Phil Ford (who scored more), and Walter Davis, who scored almost exactly the same amount. Lucas's MD team was a distant 2nd place. Wally Walker ended up going #5 overall (higher than Mitch's #13), and scored 22 pts game and shot 55% I believe, but UVa was #6 in the conf (... that went on to win the ACCT).
Nolan's play placed him in good company. Checked to see pro b'ball longevity of ACC POYs. Somewhat interesting (pro (NBA/ABA) years from basketball-reference):
0: Pucillo, Griffin, Bias, Carrawell
1: Brennan, Monroe, Vasquez (active)
2: Hemric, Shavlik, Rosenbluth, Forte, Hodge, Hansbrough (active), Lawson (active)
3: Shaffer, Vacendak, Davis, Parkhill
4: Dudley (active)
5: Redick (active)
6: Heyman
7: Miller, Ford, Dixon
8: Roche, Howard (active)
9: Thompson, Kupchak, King, Sampson
10: Chappell, Scott, Battier (active)
11: Cunningham
12: Mullins, Rogers, Brand (active)
13: Ferry, Laettner, Jamison (active)
14: Gminski, Duncan (active)
15: Jordan
16: Hill (active), Smith (active)
17: Grant
I believe Scott is Dennis (1990) not Charlie (Roche won 69 and 70 on the list I had). Also, I simply used a wikipedia ACC POY list and not an official ACC guide or anything, so take it all with that grain of salt. I was lazy and didn't type first names: I thought folks would confuse Grant as being Grant, not Horace.
That I avoided editorial comments in transcribing the list should be clear: I included Joe Forte as a winner.