University of North Carolina Athletics
Ackley Named Decade's Top Player
February 4, 2010 | Baseball
Feb. 4, 2010
DURHAM, N.C. - Dustin Ackley added yet another honor to his stellar three-year career at North Carolina Thursday, when the Walnut Cove, N.C., native was named Baseball America's Player of the Decade. The premier baseball-only publication recognized three starting pitchers, three outfielders, one two-way or "utility" player and one player at every other position for their all-decade squad. The publication selected the team and decade award winners by attempting to survey every Division I head coach - 150 of which responded.
Ackley, who was recently honored last Sunday for the 2009 Patterson Medal, was also named the decade's top first baseman. The Patterson Medal is the most prestigious award presented to student-athletes at the University of North Carolina. Ackley beat out fellow Atlantic Coast Conference players Buster Posey (Florida State), Mark Teixeira (Georgia Tech) and Khalil Greene (Clemson) for the player of the decade honor.
Fellow Tar Heels Mike Fox and Andrew Miller were in the running for the decade's top coach and starting pitcher honors, respectively. North Carolina, with its ACC record four-straight College World Series appearances to end the decade, was also in contention for the team of the decade.
Ackley is the first-three All-America in UNC baseball history and a consensus first-team pick as a junior in 2009. He was Rivals.com's 2009 National Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth Tar Heel baseball player to win that award. Ackley was the 2009 ACC Player of the Year and 2007 ACC Freshman of the Year, becoming just the fifth player in league history to earn both awards. A three-time All-ACC selection, Ackley played in 207 consecutive games, leading the Tar Heels to the College World Series in all three of his seasons.
The Walnut Cove, N.C., native set UNC career records in hits (346), average (.412), runs (227) and total bases (544) and single-season marks for at-bats, runs, hits and total bases. He had 107 multi-hit games and capped his career by hitting .412 as a junior with 18 doubles, four triples, 22 home runs and 73 RBI. The second overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, Ackley set a College World Series record with 28 base hits and is the only player to earn a spot on the All-CWS Team three times.
