The No. 12 women's basketball team earned a dubious honor this past Monday when All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams were announced by the Associated Press. For only the second time in the history of the post-season honors, the team that finished second in the ACC did not have a first team All-ACC selection.
Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors credits a change in voting procedure to the reason why Blue Devils Alison Day and Tyish Hall were second team All-ACC players, while junior Kira Orr was named honorable mention. This year was the first time the vote was placed in the hands of the media, instead of the nine conference coaches.
Over 200 ballots were sent out, with 60 of those being returned. Goestenkors said only 10 members of the media consistently watch the Blue Devils play.
"I think it comes from the fact that a lot of the voters have never seen us play," Goestenkors said. "I'm shocked we only got two players [on any team], and they only got second team."
Clemson head coach Jim Davis noted the league coaches voted at their latest meeting to keep the vote in the hands of the coaches for another year. Yet even with the coaches against the idea, the ACC sent a memo saying the media would be voting in 1996.
"It was kind of railroaded on us," Davis said. "I'm not sure we were ready for the sportswriters to do it."
Davis also thinks one reason players with great late-season efforts received higher recognition is a lot of the media may have tuned in to women's basketball late.
The one exception to that late-season rule was Orr. She scored in double figures in each of her last five games and still was only honorable mention. Because of the junior point guard's stellar conference play, Goestenkors considered the biggest omission to be Orr.
She is leading the Blue Devils in scoring in league play with 13.8 points per game. In ACC play, she is also first on the team in assists and steals, while being third in rebounds.
"If the coaches voted, Kira Orr is on the first team," she said. "They know what she means to our team."
The other surprise was Hall not making the first team. Earlier in the year, Davis named Hall as a viable candidate for conference Player of the Year. She is also the only player to be named ACC Player of the Week four times. Tracy Reid, Tracy Connor and Stephanie Ridgeway all won that award only once, and all three were first-team selections.
Goestenkors thinks the snubbing can only motivate the Blue Devils in the upcoming ACC and NCAA Tournaments. They will be out to prove to the conference media they are for real.
"I'm shocked, I'm baffled," Goestenkors said. "Our team understands that because of our balance-that's what makes us a great team."
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