Notre Dame is hoping against hope that it can win the ACC tournament and punch a ticket to the Big Dance. For the moment, however, it can celebrate the most reliable member of its program.
John Mooney has been named to this year’s All-ACC First Team, joining Bonzie Colson (2015) and Jerian Grant (2017) as the only student-athletes to earn that honor since the Irish joined the conference. He’s also the second Irish player after Pat Connaughton to make an all-conference team in consecutive seasons. Seventeen Notre Dame players have made all-conference between the ACC and Big East.
During the regular season, Mooney averaged 16.5 points and a conference-high 12.8 rebounds a game while achieving a record 16 double-doubles in 20 ACC games. He received 351 votes for the all-conference team, the third-highest total for anyone. He also finished third in voting for ACC Player of the Year. That honor went to fellow all-conference first-team member Tre Jones of Duke.