Syracuse Basketball: Jesse Edwards, Judah Mintz score All-ACC honors

Syracuse basketball senior center Jesse Edwards and freshman point guard Judah Mintz were the two Orange players to pick up All-ACC honors when the Atlantic Coast Conference announced its awards for the 2022-23 regular season on Monday.

The 6-foot-11 Edwards, who hails from Amsterdam, Netherlands, was named to the All-ACC third team, picking up 54 votes, according to a press release from the conference.

The 6-foot-3 Mintz, a native of Fort Washington, Md., received an honor-mention nod for the All-ACC squads.

I was a little surprised that senior shooting guard Joe Girard III, who currently leads the ‘Cuse (17-14, 10-10 in the ACC) in scoring at 16.7 points per game while connecting on roughly 38 percent from beyond the arc, didn’t at least garner an honor-mention nod himself.

By the way, the 2022-23 All-ACC awards and honors came from a 75-member panel that included the league’s 15 head coaches as well as 60 media members.

Syracuse basketball players Jesse Edwards, Judah Mintz have had strong seasons to date.

Judah Mintz, in my humble opinion, has proven the best freshman in the ACC during the 2022-23 campaign. However, the Orange has not put forth an impressive term as a whole.

In any event, Mintz received seven votes in the rookie of the year category. Duke big man Kyle Filipowski, a former Syracuse basketball recruit, captured that honor.

Both Mintz and Filipowski were also on the league’s All-Freshman team, along with others including Central New York native J.J. Starling, who is a standout guard at Notre Dame.

As the No. 8 seed Orange prepares to face No. 9 seed Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament’s second round on Wednesday afternoon, Judah Mintz is second on the ‘Cuse roster in scoring, at 16.2 points per contest.

He also leads Syracuse basketball with 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per encounter, along with 2.3 rebounds per affair.

Jesse Edwards, meanwhile, picked up 56 votes, the second-highest amount, and was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive unit. In the defensive player of the year voting, Edwards checked in at No. 3 overall, with 13 votes.

Additionally, Edwards landed two votes in the voting for the conference’s most improved player award.

Over the weekend, when Syracuse basketball defeated Wake Forest, 72-63, at the JMA Wireless Dome, Jesse Edwards was spectacular, tallying 27 points and 20 boards.

To date in 2022-23, he is averaging 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, while hitting on 59.1 percent from the field.

When I penned this column on Monday evening, Jesse Edwards was No. 2 within the ACC in rebounds per contest. He was the ACC leader in both field-goal shooting percentage and blocked shots per meeting at the time of this writing.

Per SU Athletics, Jesse Edwards so far in 2022-23 has posted 13 double-doubles, which is tied with Oshae Brissett (2018-19) for the most by a ‘Cuse player in a single stanza over the past 10 years.

Brissett, who plays for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, was also the last Syracuse basketball player to make the league’s All-Freshman squad, back in 2017-18.

We’re all disappointed that the Orange hasn’t had a better 2022-23 campaign, however, I want to congratulate Jesse Edwards and Judah Mintz for these well-deserved ACC honors.