Three freshmen make AP All-America team for first time in 70-year history

By JIM MARSHALL

(AP) — Oklahoma’s Trae Young took college basketball by storm, leading the nation in scoring and assists. Deandre Ayton played his one season at Arizona with power and athleticism few could match. Versatile big man Marvin Bagley III made his lone year a Duke a memorable one.

The talented trio made history Tuesday by being named to the AP All-America team, the first time three freshmen were named to the first team in its 70-year history.

They were joined by Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham on the team selected by the same 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25.

The All-America first team has had a pair of freshmen three times: John Wall and Demarcus Cousins in 2010; Michael Beasley and Kevin Love in 2008; Kevin Durant and Greg Oden in 2007.

BREAKING: 3 freshmen make AP All-America team for first time in 70-year history: Oklahoma’s @TheTraeYoung, Duke’s @MB3FIVE, Arizona’s @DeandreAyton. Also headlining first team: @jalenbrunson1 and @Devonte_Graham4. pic.twitter.com/r98bEIY4Yi

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) March 27, 2018

Young, Ayton and Bagley set a new standard with stellar one-and-done seasons.

Young was a top recruit coming out of Norman, Oklahoma, and chose to play for his hometown Sooners. Oklahoma fans were sure glad he did.

A 6-foot-2 point guard, Young popped up on the national radar by scoring 43 points against Oregon early in the season and broke the NCAA record with 22 assists against Northwestern State less than a month later.

Even when teams started to figure out ways to slow Young, he kept scoring and dishing, leading the nation at 27.4 points and 8.7 assists.

“He’s had an interesting year, probably as interesting as anyone can have,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “He battled well all year long.”

So did Ayton.

An imposing presence at 7-foot-1, 260 pounds, the big man from the Bahamas dominated at both ends, throwing down massive dunks, dropping in mid-range jumpers and swatting shots into the stands.

Ayton averaged 20.1 points on 61 percent shooting, 11.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game on his way to becoming the Pac-12 player of the year.

“He’s a once-in-a-generation player,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “I doubt if I will ever coach anyone like him again. I don’t mean that we won’t try, but there just aren’t many Deandres walking around.”

Same could be said of Bagley.

The big man from Phoenix is 6-11, but plays more like a much smaller player, athletically getting to the rim, stroking in 3-pointers, soaring in for alley-oop dunks. Bagley became the first player since the 1960s to have 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game when he had 32 and 21 against Florida State, and led the Blue Devils with 21.2 points and 11.1 rebounds.

“He’s the most unique player we’ve had here at Duke during my 38 years,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He has everything.”

Brunson flirted with leaving for the NBA after his sophomore season. His decision to come back keyed Villanova’s return to the Final Four.

A 6-3 guard, Brunson is arguably the nation’s best all-around player. He led Villanova with 19.2 points, 4.6 assists and grabbed 3.1 rebounds per game while leading the Wildcats to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons.

“On the court he’s as complete a player as there can be, very intelligent,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “Posts up, shoots 3s, drives, passes, does everything. Defend, rebounds. And his work ethic is maturity every day. We joked he’s the most mature person in the program including all of the coaches and me. And he is.”

Graham took a backseat to All-American Frank Mason III in Kansas a year ago. This season, he’s been the Jayhawks’ unquestioned leader. Heady and with knack for making big plays late in games, Graham led Kansas with 17.2 points. 7.3 assists and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game while taking the Jayhawks to the Final Four.

“He’s the best intangible guy we’ve ever had here and has as good of leadership qualities as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “So he’s been the complete package as a player, and basically he’s a guy that I don’t think coaches get an opportunity to coach but every few years. And certainly we’ve been blessed to have him.”

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2018 MEN’S AP ALL-AMERICA TEAM LIST

Statistics through March 11

First Team

Jalen Brunson, Villanova, 6-3, 190, junior, Lincolnshire, Ill., 19.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 53.1 fg pct, 41.3 3pt fg pct (63 first-place votes, 321 points)

Deandre Ayton, Arizona, 7-1, 250, freshman, Nassau, Bahamas, 20.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 61.6 fg pct, 2.0 blocks (61, 317)

Trae Young, Oklahoma, 6-2, 180, freshman, Norman, Okla., 27.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 8.8 apg, 1.7 steals, 35.3 minutes (61, 315)

Marvin Bagley III, Duke, 6-11, 234, freshman, Phoenix, 21.1 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 60.5 fg pct, 2.0 blocks (59, 313)

Devonte’ Graham, Kansas, 6-2, 185, senior, Raleigh, N.C., 17.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 7.5 apg, 1.6 steals, 41.2 3pt fg pct, 83.4 ft pct, 37.6 minutes (54, 303)

Second Team

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State, 6-7, 235, junior, Normal, Ill., 19.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.7 blocks (10, 186)

Trevon Bluiett, Xavier, 6-6, 198, senior, Indianapolis, 19.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 42.3 3pt fg pct, 86.1 ft pct (5, 183)

Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s, 6-11, 255, senior, East Malvern, Australia, 21.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 64.0 fg pct, 1.1 blocks (3, 153)

Miles Bridges, Michigan State, 6-7, 225, sophomore, Flint, Mich., 16.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 88.3 ft pct (3, 145)

Jevon Carter, West Virginia, 6-2, 205, senior, Maywood, Ill., 17.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 6.6 apg, 86.3 ft pct, 2.9 steals (1, 109)

Third Team

Keenan Evans, Texas Tech, 6-3, 190, senior, Richardson, Texas, 17.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 steals (2, 102)

Carsen Edwards, Purdue, 6-1, 200, sophomore, Atascocita, Texas, 18.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 41.2 3pt fg pct, 1.2 steals (0, 99)

Mikal Bridges, Villanova, 6-7, 210, junior, Malvern, Pa., 18.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 52.1 fg pct, 43.3 3pt fg pct, 85.1 ft pct, 1.6 steals (2, 64)

Luke Maye, North Carolina, 6-8, 240, junior, Huntersville, N.C., 17.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.0 3pt fg pct, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks (0, 64)

Kyle Guy, Virginia, 6-2, 175, sophomore, Indianapolis, 14.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 39.5 3pt fg pct, 1.0 steals (0, 40)

Honorable Mention (alphabetical order)

Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure; Peyton Aldridge, Davidson; Grayson Allen, Duke; Mo Bamba, Texas; Trae Bell-Haynes, Vermont; Joel Berry II, North Carolina; Bogdan Bliznyuk, Eastern Washington; Desonta Bradford, ETSU; Tony Carr, Penn State; Gary Clark, Cincinnati; Xavier Cooks, Winthrop; Jermaine Crumpton, Canisius; Clayton Custer, Loyola of Chicago; Mike Daum, South Dakota State; Angel Delgado, Seton Hall; Kahlil Dukes, Niagara; Tre’Shaun Fletcher, Toledo; Marcus Foster, Creighton; Brandon Goodwin, Florida Gulf Coast; Isaac Haas, Purdue; Aaron Holiday, UCLA; Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas; Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State; Nick King, Middle Tennessee; Kevin Knox, Kentucky; Fletcher Magee, Wofford; Caleb Martin, Nevada; Kelan Martin, Butler; Yante Maten, Georgia; Martaveous McKnight, Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Kendrick Nunn, Oakland; Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s; Jerome Robinson, Boston College; Junior Robinson, Mount St. Mary’s; Colin Sexton, Alabama; Landry Shamet, Wichita State; T.J. Shorts II, UC Davis; D’Marcus Simonds, Georgia State; Jonathan Stark, Murray State; Brandon Tabb, Bethune-Cookman; Zach Thomas, Bucknell; Seth Towns, Harvard; Allonzo Trier, Arizona; Grant Williams, Tennessee; Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga; Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra.