Advertisement

Three Final Four teams represented on NABC All-American teams

By Alex Butler
Kentucky Wildcats' Willie Cauley-Stein (15) dunks the basketball overtop the Hampton Pirates' defense during the first half of play in their second round game of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, March 19, 2015. Photo by John Sommers II/UPI
Kentucky Wildcats' Willie Cauley-Stein (15) dunks the basketball overtop the Hampton Pirates' defense during the first half of play in their second round game of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, March 19, 2015. Photo by John Sommers II/UPI | License Photo

INDIANAPOLIS, March 30 (UPI) -- Perhaps the most intriguing storyline is that the projected top pick in the NBA draft was left off of the first team All-American selections, released Monday by the NABC.

Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns drew second team honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The NABC All-America Teams are selected and voted on by the nearly 5,000 coaches in the organization.

Advertisement

Towns' draft stock has been steadily rising as he leads the undefeated Wildcats (38-0) into Indianapolis. DraftExpress.com and ESPN analysts Jeff Goodman and Chad Ford all have Towns as the top college prospect and No. 1 selection in the NBA draft over Duke's Jahlil Okafor.

Advertisement

Towns is averaging 10.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in just 20.8 minutes per game this season. Okafor is averaging 17.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 30.3 minutes per game this season.

Michigan State is the only Final Four team not represented on the All-American rosters. The Wildcats are represented by First-Team selection Willie Cauley-Stein and Towns. Okafor and Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky were to sole selections for their schools, while Notre Dame's Jerian Grant and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell filled out First-Team honors. Gonzaga and Virginia each had two players chosen as All-Americans. Kyle Wiltjer, a former Wildcat, and Kevin Pangos made the second and third team, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Malcolm Brogdon and Justin Anderson made the second and third team, respectively, for the Cavaliers.

2015 NABC COACHES' DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM

Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky, 7-0, 240, Junior, Forward, Olathe, Kan. Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, 6-5, 204, Senior, Guard, Bowie, Md. Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin, 7-0, 242, Senior, Forward, Lisle, Ill. Jahlil Okafor, Duke, 6-11, 270, Freshman, Center, Chicago, Ill. D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State, 6-5, 180, Freshman, Guard, Louisville, Ky.

Advertisement

2015 NABC COACHES' DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM

Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia, 6-5, 215, Junior, Guard, Atlanta, Ga. Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky, 6-11, 250, Freshman, Forward, Piscataway, N.J. Seth Tuttle, Northern Iowa, 6-8, 240, Senior, Forward, Sheffield, Iowa Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga, 6-10, 240, Junior, Forward, Portland, Ore. Delon Wright, Utah, 6-5, 190, Senior, Guard, Los Angeles, Calif.

2015 NABC COACHES' DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM

Justin Anderson, Virginia, 6-6, 228, Junior, Guard, Montross, Va. Buddy Hield, Oklahoma, 6-4, 212, Junior, Guard, Freeport, Bahamas Stanley Johnson, Arizona, 6-7, 245, Freshman, Forward, Fullerton, Calif. Georges Niang, Iowa State, 6-8, 230, Junior, Forward, Methuen, Mass. Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga, 6-2, 182, Senior, Guard, Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada

Last season, Andrew Wiggins was taken out of Kansas with the top overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 NBA Draft. Wiggins was also a second-team NABC selection. In 2013, UNLV's Anthony Bennett was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers. Bennett was not named an All-American by NABC.

The last player to be named an NABC First-Team All-American and be selected with the top pick in the NBA Draft was Kentucky's Anthony Davis in 2012.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines