news-record.com

Sylven Landesberg rarely looked like a rookie during his freshman season at Virginia.

That's why the Cavaliers' young star was named the ACC's rookie of the year Tuesday.

Landesberg received 55 of a possible 76 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Wake Forest forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who had 20 votes, was the only other player to appear on multiple ballots.

"Coming in as a freshman, I wanted to make an impact as big as I could," Landesberg said. "I wasn't expecting it, and I don't think anybody else expected it to be this big."

Landesberg led all ACC rookies — and the Cavaliers — in scoring with a 16.8-point average while seemingly becoming the focus of opposing defenses from the day the highly regarded high school star from New York City set foot in Charlottesville, Va.

"I think I prepared myself very well for this," Landesberg said. "After my high school season ended, I went through numerous workouts, day in and day out, just to get ready to play ACC basketball."

Only five teams held him to single-digit scoring, he had at least 20 points in his first three college games, and hit that scoring mark 12 times during his first season — including a season high of 32 against Boston College.

But in a common phenomenon for the freshmen in the ACC, the grueling season may have worn him down, one reason why he scored 20 just once in his final 10 games.

"Coming into the ACC, I guess I had a target on my back," he said. "It felt like it for most of the games, and it kept getting tougher as it was going along, so every game was a new adjustment."

Naturally, his favorite accomplishments came as a result of team success. His most meaningful games this season were the Cavaliers' 85-81 upset of then-No. 12 Clemson on Feb. 15 and an 88-84 victory over Georgia Tech in his ACC debut.

"I came into the (Georgia Tech) game amped up, hyped up, ready to play," he said. "It's what I came to this school for, to play ACC basketball."

He's the eighth Cavaliers player to win the ACC's rookie honor, and first since three-time All-ACC guard Sean Singletary did it in 2005.