UNC basketball graduate backcourt sensation RJ Davis, the defending ACC Player of the Year, is on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year preseason watchlist announced this week.

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Davis, also the preseason pick to repeat as ACC Player of the Year, is one of only three from the conference on the 20-deep NABC POTY list, along with Wake Forest senior guard Hunter Sallis and Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg.

Of course, RJ Davis’ appearance among the contenders is no surprise. After all, the 23-year-old New York native, who led the 2023-24 Tar Heels with his career-high 21.2 points per game while breaking the UNC Basketball season record with his 113 made threes, has already popped up on the Preseason Associated Press All-America First Team, the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award watchlist, and the Naismith National National Player of the Year Trophy watchlist.

Since its inception in 1975, the NABC Player of the Year hardware has gone to four Tar Heels: Phil Ford in 1978, Michael Jordan in 1984, Antawn Jamison in 1998, and Tyler Hansbrough in 2008.

RJ Davis and the fourth UNC basketball team of the Hubert Davis era tip off their 2024-25 regular season when they host the Elon Phoenix in the Dean E. Smith Center at 9 p.m. ET Monday (ACC Network).

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