Iowa basketball star Luka Garza named first-team AP All-America
No surprise here.
Iowa big man Luka Garza on Tuesday was named as a unanimous first-team pick on the AP's All-American team.
Garza led the way for first-team nods from a panel of 63 media mebmers who vote each week in the AP's Top 25 poll. Garza was joined on the first team by Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu, Gonzaga wing Corey Kispert, Baylor guard Jared Butler and Oklahoma State star freshman Cade Cunningham.
Garza, the brilliant big man from Iowa, came up two votes of being a unanimous choice last season. In fact, he's been so dominant that the school's career scoring leader will have his No. 55 jersey retired at the end of the season.
"He's the focal point of every defense every time we take the floor. The more tape that's on him, the tougher that gets for him," Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. "So I just have been really impressed with his relentlessness to continue to improve and to handle anything that comes his way."
Like the Hawkeyes, the Fighting Illini had never had a first-team pick until Dosunmu came along. The two-time All-Big Ten guard led them to the conference tournament title last weekend and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney.
Joining those veterans — seniors Garza and Kispert, juniors Butler and Dosunmu — is Cunningham, the favorite to be chosen first overall in the NBA draft. The calm freshman forward helped engineer an upset of Baylor in the Big 12 tourney and will lead the fourth-seeded Cowboys into the NCAA Tournament.
"Oklahoma State, last year wasn't the year that they were proud of," Cunningham said, "but I know there's a bunch of guys that wanted to win and were going to do everything that it took to win. So having a group of guys like that, with the coach we have and staff we have, that's what I want to surround myself with."
The Associated Press Men's All-America Teams
The Associated Press All-America men's basketball team with statistics through regular-season and conference tournaments:
First Team
Luka Garza, Iowa, 6-11, 265, senior, Washington, D.C., 23.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.7 bpg (63 of 63 first-place votes, 315 points)
Jared Butler, Baylor, 6-3, 195, junior, Reserve, Louisiana, 17.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.8 apg (60, 309)
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois, 6-5, 200, junior, Chicago, 20.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.3 apg (59, 307)
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State, 6-8, 220, freshman, Arlington, Texas, 20.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.6 apg (55, 299)
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga, 6-7, 220, senior, Edmonds, Washington, 19.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 apg (50, 284)
Second Team
Drew Timme, Gonzaga, 6-10, 235, sophomore, Richardson, Texas, 18.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.0 apg (9, 188)
Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga, 6-4, 205, freshman, West St. Paul, Minnesota, 14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.5 apg (8, 169)
Evan Mobley, Southern California, 7-0, 210, freshman, Murrieta, California, 16.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 3.0 bpg (4, 161)
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan, 7-1, 255, freshman, Alexandria, Virginia, 14.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg (2, 116)
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois, 7-0, 285, sophomore, Kingston, Jamaica, 17.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.2 bpg (2, 111)
Third Team
Davion Mitchell, Baylor, 6-2, 205, junior, Hinesville, Georgia, 14.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 5.4 apg (84)
Quentin Grimes, Houston, 6-5, 205, junior, The Woodlands, Texas, 18.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.9 apg (68)
Herb Jones, Alabama, 6-8, 210, senior, Greensboro, Alabama, 11.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.4 apg (66)
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago, 6-9, 255, senior, Algonquin, Illinois, 15.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.0 apg (44)
Chris Duarte, Oregon, 6-6, 190, sophomore, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, 16.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg (35)
Honorable Mention (alphabetical order)
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts; Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga; Alex Barcello, BYU; Scottie Barnes, Florida State; Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky; James Bouknight, Connecticut; Justin Champagnie, Pittsburgh; Derek Culver, West Virginia; Antoine Davis, Detroit; Kendrick Davis, SMU; David Duke, Providence; Collin Gillespie, Villanova; Raiquan Gray, Florida State; Sam Hauser, Virginia; Jay Huff, Virginia; Nah'Shon Hyland, Virginia Commonwealth; Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana; Andrew Jones, Texas; Carlik Jones, Louisville; EJ Liddell, Ohio State; Isaiah Livers, Michigan; Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall; Jaquori McLaughlin, UC Santa Barbara; Tre Mann, Florida; Remy Martin, Arizona State; Miles McBride, West Virginia; Mac McClung, Texas Tech; Matt Mitchell, San Diego State; Moses Moody, Arkansas; Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt; Neemias Queta, Utah State; Austin Reaves, Oklahoma; Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova; Jaden Shackelford, Alabama; Terry Taylor, Austin Peay; MaCio Teague, Baylor; Cameron Thomas, LSU; Franz Wagner, Michigan; Trevion Williams, Purdue; McKinley Wright IV, Colorado; Moses Wright, Georgia Tech; Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton.