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Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski
Christmas Earns ACC Most Improved From ACSMA
3/8/2015 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas (www.cuse.com/rak-city) has been named ACC Most Improved Player, first team All-ACC and ACC All-Defensive Team by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA).
Christmas, who earned his undergraduate degree in three years and is now working toward a master's degree, received the third-most votes for all-conference honors and the most for the defensive team honor.Â
Christmas is a finalist for the John Wooden Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.
He led the Orange and ranks third among ACC scorers at 17.5 points per game and is fourth in rebounding at 9.1 boards per contest. In addition, the 6-foot-9 senior from Philadelphia, is second in the ACC with 2.5 blocked shots per game and fifth in field goal percentage (.552).
Christmas completed his collegiate career on Saturday in Syracuse's 71-57 loss at NC State. He played in 142 games at Syracuse which tied with Baye Moussa Keita for the sixth most in program history. His 142 career starts tied with Derrick Coleman for second on the school's ledger behind Brandon Triche, who had 147 in his tenure.
He became the 59th Syracuse player to accumulate 1,000 career points and ended up eighth in career blocked shots (247).
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Christmas, who earned his undergraduate degree in three years and is now working toward a master's degree, received the third-most votes for all-conference honors and the most for the defensive team honor.Â
Christmas is a finalist for the John Wooden Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.
He led the Orange and ranks third among ACC scorers at 17.5 points per game and is fourth in rebounding at 9.1 boards per contest. In addition, the 6-foot-9 senior from Philadelphia, is second in the ACC with 2.5 blocked shots per game and fifth in field goal percentage (.552).
Christmas completed his collegiate career on Saturday in Syracuse's 71-57 loss at NC State. He played in 142 games at Syracuse which tied with Baye Moussa Keita for the sixth most in program history. His 142 career starts tied with Derrick Coleman for second on the school's ledger behind Brandon Triche, who had 147 in his tenure.
He became the 59th Syracuse player to accumulate 1,000 career points and ended up eighth in career blocked shots (247).
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2015 ACSMA All-ACC Honors
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| First Team All-ACC | Votes | |
| Jahill Okafor, Fr., Duke | (64) | 320 |
| Jerian Grant, Sr., Notre Dame | (64) | 320 |
| Rakeem Christmas, Gr., Syracuse | (51) | 294 |
| Malcolm Brogdon, Jr., Virginia | (53) | 293 |
| Olivier Hanlan, Jr., Boston College | (29) | 262 |
| Second Team All-ACC | Votes | |
| Montrezl Harrell, Jr., Louisville | (21) | 220 |
| Quinn Cook, Sr., Duke | (23) | 219 |
| Terry Rozier, So., Louisville | (2) | 154 |
| Tervor Lacey, Jr., NC State | (2) | 123 |
| Justin Anderson, Jr., Virginia | (5) | 106 |
| Third Team All-ACC | Votes | |
| Marcus Paige, Jr., North Carolina | (4) | 97 |
| Tyrus Jones, Fr., Duke | (2) | 89 |
| Pat Connaughton, Sr., Notre Dame | 45 | |
| Anthony Gill, Jr., Virginia | 42 | |
| Brice Johnson, Jr., North Carolina | 40 |
| All-ACC Freshman Team | Votes |
| Jahlil Okafor, Duke | 64 |
| Tyrus Jones, Duke | 62 |
| Justise Winslow, Duke | 59 |
| Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Florida State | 57 |
| Justin Jackson, North Carolina | 22 |
38
| All-ACC Defensive Team | Votes |
| Rakeem Christmas, Sr., Syracuse | 58 |
| Malcolm Brogdon, Jr., Virginia | 50 |
| Darion Atkins, Sr., Virginia | 38 |
| Tonye Jekiri, Jr., Miami | 38 |
| BeeJay Anya, So., NC State | 29 |
| ACC Player of the Year | Votes |
| Jahlil Okafor, Fr., Duke | 44 |
| Jerian Grant, Sr., Notre Dame | 14 |
| Malcolm Brogdon, Jr., Virginia | 3 |
| Rakeem Christmas, Gr., Syracuse | 1 |
| Olivier Hanlan, Jr., Boston College | 1 |
| Montrezl Harrell, Jr., Louisville | 1 |
| ACC Freshman of the Year | Votes |
| Jahlil Okafor, Duke | 64 |
| ACC Coach of the Year | Votes |
| Tony Bennett, Virginia | 52 |
| Mike Brey, Notre Dame | Â 6 |
| Mike Krzyzewski, Duke | 5 |
| Mark Gottfried, NC State | 1 |
| ACC Defensive Player of the Year | Votes |
| Darion Atkins, Sr., Virginia | 26 |
| Rakeem Christmas, Sr., Syracuse | 15 |
| Tonye Jekiri, Jr., Miami | 10 |
| Montrezl Harrell, Jr., Louisville | 8 |
| BeeJay Anya, So., NC State | 3 |
| James Robinson, Jr., Pittsburgh | 1 |
| Cameron Wright, Sr., Pittsburgh | 1 |
| ACC Most Improved Player | Votes |
| Rakeem Christmas, Sr., Syracuse | 24 |
| Tonye Jekiri, Jr., Miami | 14 |
| Quinn Cook, Sr., Duke | 6 |
| Cat Barber, So., NC State | 6 |
| Terry Rozier, So., Louisville | 4 |
| Michael Gbinije, Jr., Syracuse | 4 |
| Jaron Blossongame, So., Clemson | 3 |
| Jamel Artis, So., Pittsburgh | 2 |
| Michael Young, So., Pittsburgh | 1 |
| Sixth Man of the Year | Votes |
| BeeJay Anya, So., NC State | 26 |
| Matt Jones, So., Duke | 13 |
| Charles Mitchell, Jr., Georgia Tech | 10 |
| V.J. Beachem, So., Notre Dame | 8 |
| Chris Jones, So., Pittsburgh | 7 |
(first-place votes)Â
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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