Preseason NCAA Basketball All-America team named
Four seniors and a freshman make up the men’s preseason All-America basketball team which was announced this week by the Associated Press.
Kyle Singler, last season’s Final Four MVP for defending champion Duke, was the top vote getter for the team, chosen by a 65 member panel of national media representatives. The 6’8″ Singler, a senior from Medford, Oregon, is the only repeat selection from last season’s team. He led the Blue Devils to their fourth national title this past April, averaging 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in Final Four victories over NCAA basketball lines favorites, West Virginia and Butler.
Incoming freshman Harrison Barnes of North Carolina became the first true freshman to be selected to the preseason All-America team. Barnes, last season’s consensus high school player of the year, is a 6’8″ forward from Ames, Iowa.
6’0″ guard Jacob Pullen of Kansas State, averaged 19.3 points and developed a reputation for suffocating defensive play, leading the Wildcats to within a game of the Final Four. The Maywood, Ill. product scored a career-high 34 points in a second round win over Brigham Young.
One of Pullen’s opponents that day, guard Jimmer Fredette of BYU, a 6’2″ senior from Glens Falls, N.Y., poured in 22.1 points a game for the Cougars last season, including a sizzling 45.8 3-point shooting percentage.
Rounding out the AP’s first team is JaJuan Johnson, Purdue’s lanky 6’10″ senior forward/center. Johnson, an Indianapolis native, averaged 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots for the Boilermakers as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s third round before losing to eventual champion Duke.
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