Press release from the University of Louisville:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – University of Louisville juniors Deng Adel and Ray Spalding along with sophomore V.J. King and freshman Jordan Nwora were named to the 2018 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team announced Wednesday by the ACC. Adel and Spalding earn the honor for the third straight time while King earns it for the second straight season.
Adel, a sports administration major, currently leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game.
He has been the Cardinals’ scoring leader in 11 games. Adel, who is 13th in the ACC in scoring, has seven 20-point scoring efforts in his last 31 games, including five this season. A preseason All-ACC selection (second team), Adel is a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year award.
Spalding, a communications major, is the Cards leading rebounder this season with 8.9 per game. He has pulled down at least eight rebounds in 17 of the last 26 games, including 17 points and 10 rebounds against Duke two games ago. Spalding scored a career-high 23 points with 12 rebounds at Notre Dame on Jan. 16. He is fifth in the ACC and 45th in the nation in rebounding. He has 10 double-doubles this season (sixth-most in the ACC) and 12 in his career.
King, a sports administration major, ranks fourth on the team in scoring this season with 8.9 points per game. He is a starter at shooting guard and has scored double figures in 12 games this season. King usually receives the challenge of defending the top guard or wing of the opposing team. He scored a season-high 17 points against Purdue and Memphis and tied his career-high with three assists against Memphis.
Jordan Nwora, an exercise science major, leads the team in three-point field goal percentage at 44.2 percent. He made a season-high 5-of-7 three-pointers against Georgia Tech while his team-high 16 points were his second-most in a game. He added four rebounds and a season-high four steals. He followed up the game with his eighth double-figure scoring effort of the year with 13 points and six rebounds at Pitt. Nwora was named the ACC Rookie of the Week for games Feb. 5-11.
The All-ACC Academic Team includes three of the five and six of the league’s top 15 scorers – Duke’s Marvin Bagley III (20.7), Syracuse’s Tyus Battle (19.8), UNC’s Luke May (17.9), Duke’s Grayson Allen (15.5), Louisville’s Adel (15.3) and NC State Allerik Freeman (15.1). In addition, the team also includes the league’s fifth-and 10th-leading rebounders, respectively, in Louisville’s Spalding (8.9) and Clemson’s Elijah Thomas (7.9), and Virginia’s Devon Hall, who leads the ACC in assists-to-turnover ratio (3.19-to-1).
Duke’s Allen earned a spot on the honors team for a fourth-straight year while UNC’s Maye, Louisville’ \ Adel and Spalding, Clemson’s Gabe DeVoe, Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger, Virginia Tech’s Devin Wilson were named for a third time. Syracuse’s Tyus Battle, Florida State’s Trent Forrest, Virginia’s Hall and Louisville’s King are listed for a second time.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
The 2018 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team is as follows:
Player, Class, School Hometown Major
Deng Adel, Jr., Louisville Melbourne, Australia Sports Administration
Brandon Alston, Gr., Georgia Tech Vienna, Va. Economics
Grayson Allen, Sr., Duke Jacksonville, Fla. Psychology
Marvin Bagley III, Fr., Duke Phoenix, Ariz. Undeclared
Tyus Battle, So., Syracuse Edison, N.J. Information Management & Technology
Marcus Carr, Fr., Pittsburgh Toronto, Ontario, Canada Arts & Sciences
Marek Dolezaj, Fr., Syracuse Bratislava, Slovakia Undeclared
Braxton Beverly, Fr., NC State Hazard, Ky. Sport Management
Khameron Davis, Fr., Pittsburgh Denver, Colo. Arts & Sciences
Gabe DeVoe, Sr., Clemson Shelby, N.C. Marketing
Trent Forrest, So., Florida State Chipley, Fla. Sport Management
Allerik Freeman, Gr., NC State Charlotte, N.C. Youth & Family Community Services
Devon Hall, Gr., Virginia Virginia Beach, Va. Higher Education
Sam Hunt, Gr., NC State Greensboro, N.C. Youth & Family Community Services
Nigel Johnson, Gr., Virginia Ashburn, Va. Higher Education
Chris Lykes, Fr., Miami Mitchellville, Md. Undeclared
Mfinodu Kabengele, Fr., Florida State Burlington, Ontario, Canada International Affairs
V.J. King, So., Louisville Cleveland, Ohio Sports Administration
Luke Maye, Jr., North Carolina Huntersville, N.C. Business Administration
Jordan Nwora, Fr., Louisville Buffalo, N.Y. Exercise Science
Rex Pflueger, Jr., Notre Dame Dana Point, Calif. Marketing
Ray Spalding, Jr., Louisville Louisville, Ky. Communications
Shamiel Stevenson, Fr., Pittsburgh Toronto, Ontario, Canada Arts & Sciences
Parker Stewart, Fr., Pittsburgh Union City, Tenn. Arts & Sciences
Elijah Thomas, Jr., Clemson Dallas, Texas Parks, Recreation & Tourism
Dejan Vasiljevic, So., Miami Melbrourne, Australia Management
Lonnie Walker IV, Fr., Miami Reading, Pa. Undeclared
Devin Wilson, Sr., Virginia Tech McKees Rocks, Pa. Political Science
Jared Wilson-Frame, Jr., Pittsburgh Hartford, Conn. Social Sciences
Keyshawn Woods, Sr., Wake Forest Gastonia, N.C. Communications
Four Cardinals Named to the ACC All-Academic Men's Basketball Team https://t.co/bOLOZCPpWr pic.twitter.com/tjZa6yvd4k
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) February 28, 2018
