College Basketball Trivia: The ACC

(Part -2)

By Lorenzo Tanos

As promised, we're covering the rest of the ACC schools in this second of two parts covering the ACC. Really, 16 questions in total isn't enough to cover nearly six decades of basketball action, but as I'm hoping to cover as many conferences as possible before the 2012-13 NCAA season starts, here's hoping this will do for the meantime.

1. Who is the only Maryland Terrapin to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award?

Joe Smith won the award in 1995, right before being picked first overall in the 1995 NBA Draft. In 16 NBA seasons, Smith averaged 10.9 ppg and 6.4 rpg. His best season came in 1996-97, when he averaged 18.7 ppg and 8.5 rpg for the Golden State Warriors.

2. He is the only player in Clemson history to win ACC Player of the Year. He is best known as one of the better NBA power forwards of the 1990s and as the owner of four NBA Championship rings.

Horace Grant won the coveted ACC Player of the Year award, averaging 21.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 2.0 apg and shooting 66% from the field. He was the 10th overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft - after coming off the bench in 1987-88 as Charles Oakley's backup, he became a starter as a sophomore pro, en route to a 17-year career as one of the best defensive power forwards in the NBA.

3. Who is the only coach so far to lead two NCAA Division I schools to the Final Four in the first and only time in each team's history?

Hugh Durham led Florida State (in 1972) and Georgia (in 1983) to the NCAA Final Four - since then, neither school has made the Final Four. Durham was also a top-flight player for Florida State, averaging 21.9 ppg in his senior year in 1958-59.

4. Who was the Virginia Cavaliers forward who was once referred to as the "next Rick Barry" by no less than legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith?

"Wonderful" Wally Walker was one of the top collegiate small forwards in the mid-'70s, topping out at 22.1 ppg and 6.8 rpg in the 1975-76 season, his senior year. He was regarded highly enough by NBA scouts to be drafted fifth overall in the 1976 NBA Draft. However, his NBA career was a bit of a disappointment. In eight seasons, he never averaged double figures in scoring, though he did start from 1981-83 for Seattle and Houston, playing more of a Shane Battier-type role as a SF with shooting and defensive skills.

5. This Wake Forest Demon Deacon was the only member of the 1978 NBA Draft class not to play in the NBA.

6'6" small forward Rod Griffin was a high-scoring forward for the Deacs who was drafted 17th overall by the Denver Nuggets in 1978. But he couldn't hold a candle to the Nuggets' two incumbent SFs for the 1978-79 season - former Indiana defensive specialist Bobby Wilkerson and high-scoring, high-leaping second-year man Anthony Roberts.

6. How many South Carolina Gamecocks were NCAA Division I scoring leaders, how many played when the Gamecocks were in the ACC, and how many played in the NBA?

Two, one and none. Grady Wallace (1957, 31.3 ppg) was the first Gamecock to have his number retired. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Boston Celtics in 1957, but it's hard to imagine how he would have beaten out Hall of Famers Bill Sharman and Sam Jones as the Celtics' SG. Zam Fredrick averaged 28.9 ppg in 1981 but at that time, the Gamecocks were an independent school. He didn't play in the NBA either after being drafted in the 3rd round in 1981 by the L.A. Lakers.

7. Who was Boston College's first All-American upon joining the ACC in 2005?

Craig Smith is second in the Eagles' all-time scoring list with 2,349 career points. At 6'7" and anywhere between 250-270 pounds, he has carved out a nice NBA career as a backup power forward, peaking in 2008-09, when he averaged 10.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the 36th pick overall in the 2006 NBA Draft.

8. This former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket and NBA PF had a second career in the '90s as an NHRA drag racer.

As the 9th pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, Tom Hammonds' career 5.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg indicate a disappointing career. But for what it's worth, he was a quality reserve for most of his career, and he has been an NHRA team owner and racer since 1996.

Check out College Basketball Trivia: The ACC (Part -1).

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