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Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker named ACC Basketball Player of the Week

Chris Graham

acc basketballVirginia Tech sophomore guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been voted the ACC Basketball Player of the Week, while Duke’s Zion Williamson earned ACC Freshman of the Week accolades.

ACC weekly honors are determined by a vote of a 15-member media panel and are announced on Mondays throughout the regular season. The ACC Player of the Week selection is Alexander-Walker’s second of the season. Williamson was recognized as the ACC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time.

The Hokies’ Alexander-Walker came up big in a pair of road wins last week. In Wednesday night’s 82-70 win at Miami, the Toronto native tied a season-high with 25 points and led the Hokies with five assists. He also recorded a career-high six steals, tying the Virginia Tech ACC game record for steals. He had a career-high 11 made field goals and grabbed four rebounds.

In the win at No. 23 NC State on Saturday, Alexander-Walker took on much of the primary ball-handling duties in the absence of Justin Robinson. He scored 11 points, had three assists and three steals and blocked two shots in a career-high-tying 40 minutes of action.

Duke’s Williamson averaged a team-leading 27.5 points and shot .793 (23-of-29) from the field in a pair of wins at Notre Dame and over St. John’s this week. Williamson also averaged 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 3.0 steals as No. 2 Duke improved to 19-2 overall and 7-1 in the ACC.

Against Notre Dame, the Spartanburg, South Carolina, freshman scored 26 points with nine rebounds and four blocks, hitting 10 of his 12 shots from the floor (1-of-1 from 3-point range). He followed with a game-high 29 points and six boards in Saturday’s 91-61 win over St. John’s, while adding a career-high tying five steals. Over the last four games, Williamson has scored 102 points and shot .796 (43-of-54) from the field.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].