All-American

AP All-America Team: Hansbrough Unanimous Pick

Matthew Ryter — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:50:25 -0500

The Story: The Associated Press announced their preseason All-America team this afternoon. Tyler Hansbrough became the first unanimous player (72 ballots) selected since Duke’s Jason Williams in 2001-02. Hansbrough, the reigning national player of the year, missed being a unanimous selection last year by one vote. He is the first player to return to school after winning national player of the year since Shaquille O’Neal returned to LSU in 1991. Joining UNC’s Hansbrough are UCLA guard Darren Collison, Davidson guard Stephen Curry, Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody, and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin. Collison, like Hansbrough, is a repeat preseason choice from last year. The last repeat PG selection was Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves in 1999-00. Curry, who averaged 25.9 points per game last season, was second in the voting with 66. Harangody, last year’s Big East player of the year, was third with 58 votes. Griffin, who returned to Oklahoma after a superb freshman year, received 45 votes.

AP Preseason All-America Team

Tyler Hansbrough, 6-9, senior, North Carolina

Stephen Curry, 6-2, junior, Davidson

Luke Harangody, 6-8, junior, Notre Dame

Darren Collison, 6-1, senior, UCLA

Blake Griffin, 6-10, sophomore, Oklahoma

Ryter’s Block: Tyler Hansbrough deserves to be a unanimous selection on the preseason team. Hansbrough after all is the reigning player of the year and a first team All-American last season. If Hansbrough can stay healthy, there is not a better college basketball player in the nation. I don’t believe anyone in the country will disagree with that. Stephen Curry put himself on everyone’s radar last year with Davidson’s unbelievable run in March. He averaged 32 points per game in the tournament and shot lights out from beyond the arc. With the loss of Jason Richards, Curry will have to handle the ball more which could hurt his numbers. Harangody makes a strong case being the reigning player of the year in the deepest conference in the nation, the Big East. If he can repeat as conference player of the year he will be an All-American at the end of the season. Collison gained third team All-American honors last year, but will the departure of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love hurt his chances or help them? Griffin may have the most NBA potential out of this group and may jump to the league after this season. I expect him to put up monster numbers this year.

Some players that I believe may end up on this list at the end of the season are: Arizona State’s James Harden, Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn, Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson, Pittsburgh’s Sam Young, and Texas’ Damion James.

Matthew Ryter keeps you up to date on the world of college basketball with his "Ryter's Block" column. What do you think about this story? What players do you think deserve to be on the list? Post your comments below:

Preseason Mid-Major All-Americans: 08-09

CHN — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:39:54 -0400

CollegeHoops.net's Preseason Mid-Major All-America Team is dominated by a pair of impressive guards: Stephen Curry and Patrick Mills. Not surprisingly, Curry was a unanimous pick amongst all of our voters for Mid-Major Player of the Year honors. Besides Curry and Mills, other returning 2007-08 Collegehoops.net Mid-Major All-Americans include Lester Hudson (2nd Team last year), Al Fisher (3rd Team), and Ryan Wittman (3rd Team).

The CollegeHoops.net All-American teams are voted on by staff writers. Coming up soon is CHN's Preseason All-Freshman team.

CollegeHoops.net Preseason Mid-Major Player of the Year: Stephen Curry (Davidson)

CollegeHoops.net First Team Mid-Major All-America

Stephen Curry	Davidson	JR	G
Patrick Mills	Saint Mary's	SO	G
Lester Hudson	Tennessee-Martin	SR	G
Matt Howard	Butler	SO	F
Diamon Simpson	Saint Mary's	SR	F

CollegeHoops.net Second Team Mid-Major All-America

Al Fisher	Kent State	SR	G
Josh Akognon	Fullerton	SR	G
Kenny Hasbrouck	Siena	SR	G
Marqus Blakely	Vermont	JR	F
John Bryant	Santa Clara	SR	C

CollegeHoops.net Third Team Mid-Major All-America

Brandon Johnson	San Diego	SR	G
Edwin Ubiles	Siena	JR	G/F
Jonathan Rodriguez	Campbell	JR	F
Ryan Wittman	Cornell	JR	F
Carlos Monroe	Florida Atlantic	SR	F

CollegeHoops.net Honorable Mention Mid-Major All-American

Josh Alexander	Stephen F Austin	SR	G
Michael Bramos	Miami	SR	G
J'Nathan Bullock	Cleveland State	SR	F
Garrison Carr	American	SR	G
Louis Dale	Cornell	JR	G
Devin Gibson	Texas-San Antonio	SO	G
Jeremy Goode	Mount Saint Mary's	JR	G
David Holston	Chicago St	SR	G
Robert Jarvis	Oral Roberts	SR	G
Dior Lowhorn	San Francisco	JR	F

Donovan Morris	Long Beach St	SR	G
Courtney Pigram	East Tennessee St	SR	G
Gyno Pomare	San Diego	SR	F
Ryan Thompson	Rider	JR	F
Mike Trimboli	Vermont	SR	G
Desmond Yates	Middle Tennessee St	JR	F
Ben Woodside	North Dakota St	SR	G

Preseason High-Major All-Americans: 08-09

CHN — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:53:48 -0400

CollegeHoops.net's Preseason High-Major All-America Team is dominated by an impressive set of senior guards who are hoping to lead their teams deep into the NCAA Tournament. VCU leader Eric Maynor, a returning 2nd Team High-Major All-American, edged out Pargo and Vaden for Player of the Year honors. Besides Maynor, other returning CHN High-Major All-Americans include Robert Vaden (1st team last year), Jeremy Pargo (3rd team), Lee Cummard (4th team), Dionte Christmas (3rd team), Stefon Jackson (4th team), and Josh Young (4th team).

The CollegeHoops.net All-American teams are voted on by staff writers. Coming up later this week is CHN's Mid-Major All-America team.

CollegeHoops.net Preseason High-Major Player of the Year: Eric Maynor (VCU)

CollegeHoops.net First Team High-Major All-America

Jeremy Pargo	Gonzaga	SR	G
Robert Vaden	UAB	SR	G
Eric Maynor	VCU	SR	G
Lee Cummard	BYU	SR	G/F
Luke Nevill	Utah	SR	C

CollegeHoops.net Second Team High-Major All-America

Dionte Christmas	Temple	SR	G
Stefon Jackson	UTEP	SR	G
Austin Daye	Gonzaga	SO	F
Derrick Brown	Xavier	JR	F
Ahmad Nivins	St. Joseph's	SR	F

CollegeHoops.net Third Team High-Major All-America

P'Allen Stinnett	Creighton	SO	G
Wink Adams	UNLV	SR	G
Josh Young	Drake	JR	G
Chris Wright	Dayton	SO	F
Jerome Jordan	Tulsa	JR	C

CollegeHoops.net Honorable Mention High-Major All-American

Lavoy Allen	Temple	SO	F
Matt Bouldin	Gonzaga	JR	G
Jonathan Cox	Drake	SR	F
Osiris Eldridge	Illinois St	JR	G
Brandon Ewing	Wyoming	SR	G
Steven Gray	Gonzaga	SO	G
Ricky Harris	UMASS	JR	G
Josh Heytvelt	Gonzaga	SR	F
Matt Janning	Northeastern	JR	G
Charles Jenkins	Hofstra	SO	G
Armon Johnson	Nevada	SO	G
Bryan Mullins	Southern Illinois	SR	G
Jonathan Tavernari	BYU	JR	F
Jermaine Taylor	UCF	SR	G
Ben Uzoh	Tulsa	JR	G
Lorenzo Wade	San Diego St	SR	F
Gary Wilkinson	Utah State	SR	F
Jeremy Wise	Southern Miss	JR	G