Wake Forest sophomore forward John Collins (208-F-97) earned a pair of honors Sunday as the ACC announced its annual conference awards. Collins was named the league's Most Improved Player while also earning first-team All-ACC recognition. He was also the runner-up in ACC Player of the Year voting.
Collins is the first Demon Deacon to be named to the All-ACC first team since Chris Paul in 2004-05. He is the first Wake Forest player to be named the league's Most Improved Player in the four-year history of the award.
The 6-10 forward averaged 19.1 points and 9.8 rebounds this season, posting 15 double-doubles. He led the league in scoring in conference games at 20.3 points per game, becoming the first Deac to average at least 20 points per game in league play since Josh Howard in 2002-03. Collins led the league in field goal percentage in both conference games (63.9%) and overall (62.3%). His streak of 12 consecutive 20-point games was the longest in ACC play since NC State's T.J. Warren in 2014 and the longest by a Demon Deacon in over four decades. Collins led the ACC in 20-and-10 games with 10 overall and eight in ACC play.
Collins, who averaged 7.3 points and 3.9 rebounds last season, improved his scoring by a league-leading 11.8 points per game and improved his rebounding by almost six per game.
The Demon Deacons (18-12, 9-9 ACC) open the ACC Tournament on Tuesday against Boston College. Tip-off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn is 2 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN2 and the ACC Network.
Atlanta is probably the most populated city where Virgin Islanders call home in the United States. Make room for one more as John Collins (208-F-97) was selected by the Atlanta Hawks at the 2017 NBA Draft. Collins played an instrumental role in bringing Wake Forest out of the basement of the ACC and leading them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010. He will now have an opportunity to bump heads with rap sensation Rock City and Benny Demus. Collins was selected 19th ov... [read more]
Atlanta is probably the most populated city where Virgin Islanders call home in the United States. Make room for one more as John Collins (208-F-97) was selected by the Atlanta Hawks at the 2017 NBA Draft. Collins played an instrumental role in bringing Wake Forest out of the basement of the ACC and leading them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010. He will now have an opportunity to bump heads with rap sensation Rock City and Benny Demus. Collins was selected 19th overall.
9. Atlanta Hawks: John Collins, Wake Forest, PF, 6-10, 225
The most efficient player in all of college basketball, Collins averaged 28 points and 14 boards per 40 minutes last season. He has impressive footwork and almost half of his possessions took place in the post, indicating his refined back-to-the-basket game. Collins' 5.6 offensive boards per 40 also leads all draft prospects.
Like many bigs, he has to work on his defensive awareness as well as his overall strength but a glaring offensive hole is his propensity to be a black hole. He had a dismal .28 assist to turnover ratio and just 4.5% of his possessions led to assists.
--Tyler Blint-Welsh
Reaction: The 6-10 Collins can score and rebound, but his defense will have to improve as he moves to the next level..
SAN ANTONIO - Time flies when you're having fun and that can't be more true for Tim Duncan who was drafted by the Spurs 20 years ago. The San Antonio Spurs posted a tribute video on Facebook of Duncan by throwing it back to Draft Day 1997 where he was the first overall pick. Duncan played for four years at Wake Forest University where he averaged 16.5 points per game. In 1997, Duncan was voted Naismith College Player of the year. During his rookie year, Duncan didn't slow down by avera... [read more]
SAN ANTONIO - Time flies when you're having fun and that can't be more true for Tim Duncan who was drafted by the Spurs 20 years ago.
The San Antonio Spurs posted a tribute video on Facebook of Duncan by throwing it back to Draft Day 1997 where he was the first overall pick.
Duncan played for four years at Wake Forest University where he averaged 16.5 points per game. In 1997, Duncan was voted Naismith College Player of the year.
During his rookie year, Duncan didn't slow down by averaging 21.2 points per game and 11.9 rebounds per game. In 1998, Duncan claimed the title of Rookie of the Year.
Here's to one of San Antonio's greatest. Go Spurs Go!
Former Wake Forest basketball forward/center John Collins (208-F-97) has been invited to be in the Green Room at the Barclays Center for the NBA Draft on June 22. The Green Room is a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. When their name is called, the player leaves the room and goes up on stage to shake the hand of commissioner Adam Silver and receive a hat of the team they have been drafted by. This is usually followed by an int... [read more]
Former Wake Forest basketball forward/center John Collins (208-F-97) has been invited to be in the Green Room at the Barclays Center for the NBA Draft on June 22.
The Green Room is a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. When their name is called, the player leaves the room and goes up on stage to shake the hand of commissioner Adam Silver and receive a hat of the team they have been drafted by. This is usually followed by an interview with the crew covering the draft on ESPN.
The NBA invites 15-20 players annually to sit in the Green Room. The last player from Wake Forest to receive an invite was Al-Farouq Aminu in 2010.
The first list of players invited to the Green Room for the 2017 draft was released on June 8th and included probable top ten picks Markelle Fultz (Washington), Lonzo Ball (UCLA), De'Aaron Fox (Kentucky), Zach Collins (Gonzaga), Jonathan Isaac (Florida State), Jayson Tatum (Duke), Dennis Smith Jr. (NC State), Josh Jackson (Kansas), Lauri Markkanen (Arizona), and Malik Monk (Kentucky).
John Collins was invited to the Green Room on June 10th along with Texas big man Jarrett Allen and international point guard Frank Ntilikina. Since then, former Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell has also been invited.
Duke's Luke Kennard, North Carolina's Justin Jackson, and Indiana's OG Anunoby are all expected to receive invitations as well.
The final three spots are likely to consist of three of the following players: Duke's Harry Giles, UCLA's TJ Leaf, Kentucky's Bam Adebayo, Creighton's Justin Patton, international player Isaiah Hartenstein, Cal's Ivan Rabb, Purdue's Caleb Swanigan, and Utah's Kyle Kuzma.
The fact that Collins was one of the second three players invited suggests that he will likely be taken as a late lottery pick or shortly after, likely falling anywhere from 12th-19th.
We at Blogger So Dear are grateful for all that John did to help Wake get back to the NCAA Tournament, and wish him the very best in his NBA career.
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