Wolfpack Stars Advance in ACC 'Best Players' Bracket

David Thompson, Rodney Monroe, Julius Hodge and T.J. Warren all won first round matchups, determined by fan voting

I'm not a big fan of competitions such as the one the ACC is currently sponsoring to determine the league's "Best Player of the Last 50 Years."

They're incredibly subjective, especially when determined by fan voting -- as this one is. The seedings are usually set by people who never saw many of the players in person, leading to a bias of recency when it comes to seeding. And then there's the fact that half of the players in the bracket never actually played in the ACC.

But since the league is going ahead with the competition and there are no actual games being played because of the coronavirus crisis, we might as well follow along to see how things turn out. 

And if you're an NC State fan, you might want to vote as many times as you're allowed, because while all four former Wolfpack stars involved -- David Thompson, Rodney Monroe, Julius Hodge and T.J. Warren -- have advanced into the second round, several of them are going to need all the help they can get in their upcoming matchups this week.

Voting is taking place on the ACC's official website.

Here's a look at the brackets in the order in which they're being contested:

Greensboro Region (Voting takes place on Monday)

Hodge, the No. 7 seed won his opening round matchup against Boston College's Troy Bell, picking up 76.5 percent of the vote. He'll face a much more difficult challenge this time against No. 2 seed J.J. Redick of Duke.

Reddick was an easy winner against Miami's Tim James in the opening round.

The other Round of 32 matchups include No. 1 Tim Duncan (Wake Forest) vs. No. 8 Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia); No. 5 Zion Williamson (Duke) vs. No. 13 Dwyane "Pearl" Washington (Syracuse); No. 6 Phil Ford (UNC) vs. No. 3 Darrell Griffith (Louisville).

Charlotte Region (Voting takes place on Tuesday)

Warren, who is woefully underseeded at No. 8, picked up 83.3 percent of the voting in the opening round to easily beat Notre Dame's Pat Garrity. But now he'll be matched against the No. 1 seed, three-time ACC Player of the Year Ralph Sampson of Virginia. Sampson advanced to a closer than it should have been pairing against Miami's Lonnie Walker IV.

The rest of the second round matchups pit No. 5 Jared Dudley of Boston College against No. 4 Horace Grant of Clemson; No. 6 Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse against No. 3 Shane Battier of Duke; and No. 7 Antawn Jamison of UNC against No. 2 Grant Hill of Duke.

Brooklyn Region (Voting takes place on Wednesday)

Thompson is the top seed, but whoever put together these brackets loaded this one up against the Skywalker -- whose dominance of the ACC many not be truly appreciated by anyone under the age of 50.

The Wolfpack star picked up 84.3 percent of the vote to easily win his first round matchup against Boston College's Tyrice Rice. His next opponent is Louisville national champion Purvis Ellison, an opening round winner against Notre Dame's Troy Murphy.

Also in the Brooklyn bracket are Hall of Famer James Worthy of UNC, Wake Forest legends Randolph Childress and Chris Paul and Virginia Tech sharpshooter Dell Curry, whose son is a pretty popular current player). And then there's a potential region final duel with some guy named Michael Jordan -- a matchup the folks at the ACC undoubtedly set up on purpose to stimulate maximum conversation and participation.

Here are the other second round pairings: No. 5 Childress vs. No. 4 Worthy, No. 6 Paul aainst No. 3 Coleman and No. 10 Curry against No. 2 Jordan.

Washington D.C. Region (Voting takes place on Thursday)

Monroe, the No. 5 seed, hung on to claim a close victory against Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury, winning by a 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent margin.

Fire now takes on No. 13 Donovan Mitchell of Louisville, who took advantage of the aforementioned recency bias to rout former ACC Player of the Year Rodney Rodgers from Wake Forest.

The other second round matchups are No. 1 Christian Laettner (Duke) vs. No. 9 Mark Price (Georgia Tech); No. 6 Billy Owens (Syracuse) vs. No. 3 Austin Carr (Notre Dame); and No. 2 Tyler Hansbrough (UNC) vs. No. 10 DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh).