Gonzaga and Baylor spent most of the season maintaining the top two spots in the Top 25.
It makes sense that they kept a lot of places pressed on The Associated Press All-America teams.
Corey Kispert of the Bulldogs and Jared Butler of the Bears led this weekend the first-team pregnancies from the national panel of 63 media members who vote each week in the AP 25 poll. He was joined by Iowa’s Luka Garza, a two-time selection, along with Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.
Kispert and Butler, however, had a lot of company.
The Bulldogs also got big man Drew Timme and freshman Jalen Suggs on the second team, while Joel Ayayi was an honorable mention pick. The Bears featured Davion Mitchell on the third team and MaCio Teague as an honorable mention.
“Thinking of myself as a freshman coming to Baylor and not knowing what I was up to, having no expectations about how good I will be or how good I will be, means a lot to fulfilling my circle,” said Butler, the player biggest of the year 12 and a third American team from last season.
This is the first time Baylor has reached a top spot in the NCAA tournament, has had a first-team All-American.
“These awards are just team awards,” said Butler, who retired from the NBA draft to return to his freshman year. “I wouldn’t be here without my teammates just playing with me and giving me confidence. It’s been beautiful. “
Kispert also retired from the draft and also led his team to the No. 1 overall standings, along with helping the Bulldogs finish a perfect regular season. He joined Dan Dickau, Adam Morrison and Kelly Olynyk as Gonzaga’s first-team All-Americans.
“It’s the epitome of a college athlete. He is a son of the poster of the term student-athlete, great student, great ambassador of the program, of our school and of the university athletics in general “, said the trainer of Gonzaga, Mark Few.” Everything has been for the “Work, time and physical and mental growth. He’s just an amazing guy.”
So is Garza, the great man of Iowa, which garnered two votes from being a unanimous choice last season. In fact, he has been so dominant that the top scorer of the race will have his No. 55 jersey retired at the end of the season.
“It’s the central point of every defense every time we speak. The more tape there is, the harder it will be for him, “Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said.” So I was very impressed with his relentlessness in continuing to improve and handle whatever happens to him. “
Like the Hawkeyes, the Fighting Illini had never had a first team selection until Dosunmu arrived. The All-Big Ten double guard led them to the conference tournament title last weekend and No. 1 in the NCAA tournament.
Joining these veterans (seniors Garza and Kispert, juniors Butler and Dosunmu) is Cunningham, the favorite to be picked first in the NBA draft. The quiet freshman forward helped design a Baylor nuisance in the Big 12 tournament and will lead the fourth-ranked Cowboys to the NCAA tournament.
“Oklahoma State, last year wasn’t the year they were proud of,” Cunningham said, “but I know there are a lot of guys who wanted to win and would do whatever it took to win. So having a group of guys like that, with the coach we have and the staff we have, that’s what I want to surround myself with. “
SECOND TEAM
While the first team was full of superiors, the second belonged to the college basketball youth.
There was Suggs, the first year that led Gonzaga to high-profile wins over Kansas and Iowa at the start of the season, and Timme, the second year that went from key reserve to crucial starter for the Conference champions. the West Coast.
They were joined by a trio of postal players: Kofi Cockburn, from Illinois, Hunter Dickinson, from Michigan, and Evan Mobley, from USC.
“Very proud of Evan, of his development,” said Andy Enfield, coach of the Trojans. “He’s improved as a player all season and we’ll need him to play at a high level starting later this week.”
THIRD TEAM
Mitchell of Baylor joined third-team Quentin Grimes, Houston’s top scoring guard; Alabama Herb Jones; Cameron Krutwig, of Loyola Chicago, beloved of the older half; and Chris Duarte of Oregon.
Like the first and second team Americans, their teams will also participate in the NCAA tournament this week.
“You never want to take for granted of course,” said Krutwig, a member of the Ramblers team that reached the Final Four in 2018. “We put a lot of effort into it. But we were sitting there saying, ‘There’s a lot more to do”.
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AP Basketball writer John Marshall and AP Sports writers Michael Marot and Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.
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