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CHAPEL HILL — Tyler Hansbrough felt a little strange as he noticed some of the names he has passed on North Carolina's career scoring list this year. Imagine how he'll feel when his No. 50 jersey hangs among a select group of the program's greats.

The junior was named national player of the year by Sporting News on Tuesday, ensuring he will become just the eighth Tar Heel to have his number retired. When he leaves school, Hansbrough will join a list that includes Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Phil Ford on the distinguished front row of jerseys hanging in the Smith Center rafters.

The honor came on the same day Hansbrough was the unanimous choice as ACC player of the year in voting from 90 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. He is only the third player in league history to win the award unanimously. On Monday, he became just the third player to be unanimously selected three times to the all-ACC team.

The ACC handed out three other top individual awards Tuesday. Duke's Kyle Singler is the conference's rookie of the year, teammate DeMarcus Nelson is the ACC's top defensive player, and Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech was named the ACC's top coach for 2007-08.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina.
The vitals: The 6-foot-9 forward leads the ACC in scoring (23.1) and rebounding (10.5) this season. He is now sixth on UNC's all-time scoring list with 2,001 points. After moving past players like Michael Jordan, Jamison, Kenny Smith and Walter Davis this year, the two-time All-American is on pace to break Phil Ford's school record of 2,290 points if he returns for his senior season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Kyle Singler, Duke
Vitals: The overwhelming preseason choice as ACC rookie of the year didn't disappoint. He started right away and averaged 14.2 points per game. That makes him Duke's second-leading scorer and ranks him third among the league's freshmen. The 6-8 Oregon native joins Jim Spanarkel (1976), Mike Gminski (1977), Gene Banks (1978) and Chris Duhon (2001) as Duke players to win the award.
The voting: Singler (44 of 90 votes); James Johnson, Wake Forest (30); J.J. Hickson, N.C. State (11).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner: DeMarcus Nelson, Duke
The vitals: Nelson is widely considered one of the league's top lockdown defenders. His defensive statistics aren't gaudy — he's 10th in the league with 1.63 steals per game and 19th in rebounding. But he often guards his opponent's top scorer and hounds him into a poor night. The 6-4 senior guard forced Davidson's Stephen Curry, the nation's fifth-leading scorer, into eight turnovers; held Michigan's Manny Harris, the No. 3 scorer in the Big Ten, to less than half his average of 16.4 points; and pestered North Carolina's Wayne Ellington into a 3-of-14 shooting performance in last month's victory over the Tar Heels.
The voting: Nelson, Duke (39 of 90 votes); Toney Douglas, Florida State (17); James Gist, Maryland (11); Marcus Ginyard, UNC (9); Tyrelle Blair, Boston College (6).

COACH OF THE YEAR
Winner: Seth Greenberg, Virginia Tech
The vitals: Greenberg took a Virginia Tech team picked to finish 10th out of 12 ACC teams and guided it to a 9-7 conference record and the No. 4 tournament seed. After losing to UNC last month by 39 points, the Hokies made an unexpected, late push toward the top of the conference standings and put themselves in the conversation for the NCAA tournament.
The voting: Greenberg (25 of 90 votes); Frank Haith, Miami (23); Roy Williams, UNC (17); Oliver Purnell, Clemson (15); Mike Krzyzewski, Duke (8); Dino Gaudio, Wake Forest (2).