On Monday afternoon, the ACC announced that Pitt forward Justin Champagnie was the ACC Player of the Week, his third time this season and second straight week winning the honor.
In two games against Duke and Wake Forest, Champagnie averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. Champagnie shot a remarkable 70% from the field in those games, including 60% from three, a part of his game that has greatly improved in recent weeks.
Against Duke, the 6-foot-6 sophomore posted one of his best games of his career, scoring 31 points and grabbing 14 rebounds while leading the Panthers to its first win over Duke in the Jeff Capel era.Â
The wildest part about this achievement for Champagnie is that many called his performance in Saturday’s game against Wake Forest a down game. Champagnie, the ACC’s leading scorer, scored 17 points, hauled in eight boards, and had five blocks, a stat line that many division one players could only dream of. However, after posting multiple 20-point, 20-rebound games earlier in the season and continuing his strong play with a historic game against Duke, Champagnie’s expectations have grown that much higher.
With this being his third ACC Player of the Week honor of the season, Champagnie joins a list of seven other Pitt players to have done so, including Lamar Patterson, Sam Young, and Brandin Knight, among others.
The Brooklyn native is now averaging 19.9 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, ranking first in the conference in both of those stats.
Champagnie will look to continue his scorching hot run to the season on Tuesday when Pitt takes on Wake Forest at home at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.
