2003 Top 50 List: Not eligible
Dan Collins List: Yes
I watched Julius Hodge for four years, and I never quite figured him out. It didn’t seem like he did anything great, but at the end of the game you’d look up and he had 22 points. He was a very versatile player, one of those guys who could do a little bit of everything. Need to get to the rim? He could do that. Need a midrange jumper? He could do that. Need a three? He could do that. Need a rebound? He could get it. Need an assist? He could dish it. Need a steal or a block? He could do that too. He wasn’t great at any of those things, mind you, but he was adequate to good, and somehow the combination of all of it was exponential.
He was great at one thing, and that was getting to the line. I have a theory, totally untested, that getting to the line a lot is a skill that often doesn’t translate well from college to the NBA, because of the differences in officiating. Julius Hodge, Tyler Hansbrough, Troy Bell… be wary of the player whose offensive value in college is highly dependent on free throw attempts.
Because he did so many things well, you could make lots of career totals lists that would make him look better than he actually was. Here’s a silly one: Hodge is the only player in ACC history with 2,000 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, and 80 blocks.
Through his junior year, he was on a track with some of the all-time greats. He was first team All-ACC as a sophomore and ACC Player of the Year as a junior. He made second team All-America as a junior and didn’t miss first team by all that much. Had he repeated as Player of the Year, we’d be talking about a Top 20 player here. But his senior year just got weird. He was still a good driver/slasher, but his shooting tanked. He was never a great three-point shooter, but his percentage went from 36% to 26%. His free throw shooting went from 83% to 67%. How does that happen? On the other hand, his assists went way up and his turnovers went way down, so his floor game improved. NC State had a disappointing season as a team, and Hodge wound up dropping to second team All-ACC. Then the Wolfpack made an unexpected run to the Sweet 16 before losing to Wisconsin. It was a confusing season for a hard-to-figure out player.
How many players have won ACC POY as an underclassman, then come back the next season? And how did they do? Here is the list.
There have been 19 occasions when an underclassman won ACC Player of the Year and then returned the next season. 12 times, he won again. Of the seven who didn’t, four at least made first team All-ACC (John Roche 1971, Rod Griffin 1978, Mike Gminski 1980, Tyler Hansbrough 2009). The three who didn’t make first team All-ACC the next year are Hodge 2005, Albert King 1981, and Barry Parkhill 1973.
| Year | Player | Next Year |
| 1954 | Dickie Hemric, Wake Forest | Won again |
| 1961 | Len Chappell, Wake Forest | Won again |
| 1967 | Larry Miller, UNC | Won again |
| 1969 | John Roche, South Carolina | Won again |
| 1970 | John Roche, South Carolina | Finished second |
| 1972 | Barry Parkhill, Virginia | Second team All-ACC |
| 1973 | David Thompson, NC State | Won again |
| 1974 | David Thompson, NC State | Won again |
| 1977 | Rod Griffin, Wake Forest | Finished second |
| 1979 | Mike Gminski, Duke | First team All-ACC |
| 1980 | Albert King, Maryland | Second team All-ACC |
| 1981 | Ralph Sampson, Virginia | Won again |
| 1982 | Ralph Sampson, Virginia | Won again |
| 1985 | Len Bias, Maryland | Won again |
| 1988 | Danny Ferry, Duke | Won again |
| 1996 | Tim Duncan, Wake Forest | Won again |
| 2004 | Julius Hodge, NC State | Second team All-ACC |
| 2005 | JJ Redick, Duke | Won again |
| 2008 | Tyler Hansbrough, UNC | Finished third |