For the second straight yr, Purdue’s Zach Edey is the unanimous headliner for The Associated Press males’s school basketball All-America group.
The 7-foot-4, 300-pound senior topped all 62 ballots from AP Top 25 ballot voters in outcomes launched Tuesday. The reigning AP nationwide participant of the yr claimed all 58 votes final yr.
Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and North Carolina’s RJ Davis joined Edey (310 factors) in a transparent prime trio. Knecht (298) was a first-team decide on 56 ballots, Davis (296) on 55 and each appeared among the many prime 10 gamers on each poll.
Houston’s Jamal Shead and Tristen Newton of reigning NCAA champion Connecticut rounded out the primary group.
Edey leads the nation in scoring at 24.4 factors and ranks third in rebounding (11.7). Named the AP’s Big Ten participant of the yr for a second straight time, Edey has the prospect to be the primary participant to repeat as AP nationwide participant of the yr since one other 7-4 star: Virginia’s Ralph Sampson in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Edey turned Purdue’s profession scoring chief throughout a loss to Wisconsin within the Big Ten Tournament.
“The thing here is, at the end of the day, he won’t take credit for himself,” teammate Braden Smith stated. “He’ll always point to us and say he got here because of us and we were helping him. Awesome accomplishment for him.”
Knecht, a 6-6 switch from Northern Colorado, is the AP’s Southeastern Conference participant of the yr. He is simply the fourth Volunteer to earn first-team honors, becoming a member of Grant Williams (2019), Dale Ellis (1983) and Bernard King (1977) after averaging 21.1 factors to assist the Volunteers win their first SEC regular-season crown since 2008.
“His journey is one that you kind of read about, like fairy-tale type deals,” Vols affiliate head coach Justin Gainey stated. “Just to see him get to this point and achieve what he’s achieved, it’s amazing. But it goes to his hard work, his work ethic, his mindset, his confidence and belief in himself.”
Davis, a 6-0 guard, led was named the AP participant of the yr for the Atlantic Coast Conference after averaging a league-best 21.4 factors. He is UNC’s first first-team AP All-American since 2017.
“RJ has been our closer, and in (close games) it’s a huge luxury to know you can put the ball in our guard’s hands and he’ll either make the right shot or make the right play,” massive man Armando Bacot stated of Davis throughout the ACC Tournament.
Shead, a 6-1 senior, has been the ground chief for a Houston group that received the Big 12 regular-season crown in its first yr within the rugged league. The honor for Shead, the AP participant of the yr within the Big 12, follows the Cougars having a first-team choice final yr with guard Marcus Sasser.
Newton, a 6-5 graduate, has elevated his recreation to provide UConn the look of a group that might turn into school basketball’s first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007. With the departures of Final Four most excellent participant Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, Newton elevated his scoring from 10.1 factors final yr to fifteen.2 factors on the way in which to changing into the AP’s participant of the yr within the Big East for the league champion.
Newton is UConn’s first first-team AP All-American since Shabazz Napier in 2014.
Marquette’s Tyler Kolek headlined the second group and was the one different participant to earn not less than 10 first-team votes. The guard was an AP third-team All-American final season.
Alabama’s Mark Sears joined Kolek within the backcourt of that second quintet, which boasts an imposing entrance line with Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II (6-10), Duke’s Kyle Filipowski (7-0) and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson (7-2) — a second-team choice in 2021 when he was at Michigan.
San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee led the third-team picks, joined by Auburn’s Johni Broome, Pac-12 participant of the yr Caleb Love of Arizona and Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman.
The closing spot went to Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. (54 factors), the nation’s No. 3 scorer at 23 factors per recreation.
Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves and Kansas’ Kevin McCullar Jr. completed proper behind Shannon to face because the main vote-getters amongst gamers who didn’t make the All-America groups.
Players earned honorable-mention standing in the event that they appeared on a number of voters’ ballots. While 21 gamers certified, Reeves (52), McCullar (52) and Providence’s Devin Carter (36) have been the one gamers to get greater than 15 factors in voting from that group.
The honorable-mention checklist additionally included Bacot, a preseason All-American decide who was a third-team All-American final yr.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
