Monica Wright averages 14.9 points to lead all ACC freshmen.

When Monica Wright first arrived in Charlottesville, the expectations were already sky high. After all, she had been honored as the Group AAA Player of the Year, MVP of the WBCA All-American game, and Gatorade's Virginia Player of the Year. Wright had been named a Street & Smith's, USA Today, EA Sports, USA Today, and McDonald's All-American. She helped her high school team, Forest Park, win two Group AAA State Championships.

So it shouldn't have been surprising when she was named the ACC's Preseason Rookie of the Year. But it was. At least to Wright. She didn't even know such an award existed. When she won the postseason version of the honor Tuesday, however, there was no shock. After all, she had been named the ACC Rookie of the Week eight times during the season.

“I'm excited about it, but as many times as I got the Rookie of the Week Award I was thinking I'd get it,” Wright said. “But preseason, I had no idea the award even existed. That was a surprise.”

The preseason honor also provided a little bit of motivation for the Cavalier freshmen - she wanted to prove the predictors right.

“Anytime I get something like that, I want to live up to it and not let anyone down just because they did pick me in the preseason. I wanted to make sure it looked like they knew what they were talking about,” she said with a laugh.

No problem on that front. She has started all 29 games to date this season and is leading all ACC freshmen in scoring with 14.9 points per game. That number is good enough for second on the team - she is also second in assists with 65 and leads the team in steals with 67.

That production earned her the unanimous selection as the ACC Rookie of the Year as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA). She also earned a unanimous slot on the All-Freshmen team where she was joined by LeLe Hardy (Clemson), Jacinta Monroe (FSU), Christy Brown (Clemson), and Mekia Valentine (Wake Forest).

“Monica has been everything to us,” coach Debbie Ryan said in a press release. “She's had to take on a tremendous amount of responsibility. We are very proud and pleased that she has received this honor.”

Wright's Rookie of the Year honor puts her in esteemed company at UVa. She is the fifth Cavalier to receive the award, joining Dawn Staley (1989), Tora Suber (1994), Schuye LaRue (2000), and Brandi Teamer.

But that doesn't mean Wright should rest on her laurels, something she already knows. Entering UVa after playing mostly a hybrid post role at Forest Park, she has shifted into the perimeter-oriented guard/forward role at Virginia. As should be expected with a freshman, there have been growing pains with that move. Wright had to work on refining her jumper while also adding range. She has improved as the season has progressed, but she knows there's still more work to do - after all, she has made just 19 of 78 3-pointers on the season.

Monica Wright became the fifth Cavalier to win the ACC Rookie of the Year Award.

“I still feel like I can work more on my shot, but I've been working overtime with the coaches out of practice on my shot still. I feel more comfortable,” Wright said. “As the season was going on, I still wasn't that comfortable with it but as I work with the coaches more and more I feel way more comfortable. I think that is the main thing I'm focusing on, zoning in on as the season ends.”

The other area that required a great amount of adaptation from Wright was defense. There is a giant leap from high school to the ACC in terms of what it takes to defend and defend well. Early in the season, Wright would stumble into foul trouble more often than late in the season - a sign of her growth in the area. Naturally, the most difficult adjustment came in terms of strategies and concepts from the team defense standpoint.

“There's a lot more that you have to do defensive wise than in high school. It's a five-person thing,” Wright said. “You don't worry about yourself. You always have to be in help position. There's a lot more to remember and be focused on.”

Wright said that the learning process has continued on a daily basis. The fact that the postseason has arrived doesn't change that fact, either. Yes, the No. 8 seeded Cavaliers will take on the No. 9 seeded Tigers in the ACC Tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. Beyond that, there may be more games in the ACC, WNIT, or NCAA events - only time will tell.

Regardless, Wright is ready to keep working.

“At first, it was just 'Wow.' It was kind of hard trying to mesh or whatever,” said Wright in response to what playing college basketball was like at first. “I'm learning stuff every day, something new every day. Even if it is the end of the season or time for the postseason, I'm still learning. I'm doing good chemistry-wise with the team, but I still feel like I'm learning a lot more.”