Now that the college basketball regular season and conference championships have concluded, the Def Pen college basketball writers have voted and formulated our college basketball NCAA All American teams and National Player of the Year. With the Big 12 leading the way, the Big 10, Pac 12, Big East, ACC and West Coast Conference were all represented in this year’s Def Pen All-American Team.
NCAA All-American Teams
3rd Team All-American
Jock Landale: Center, St. Marys
Jock Landale is the walking double-double. One of the best post players in the country, Landale nearly led an average St. Mary’s team to the NCAA Tournament.
Aaron Holiday: Guard, UCLA
UCLA junior Aaron Holiday has defeated all odds this season. Being one of the oldest guys on a really young team, Holiday had used his leadership to bring them to a season many thought they wouldn’t have.
Jevon Carter: Guard, West Virginia
Today’s era doesn’t always appreciate defense like it should, but thankfully the West Virginia faithful love Jevon Carter. His defense alone earns him a spot as an All American, but his offense has vastly improved over his junior and senior years. The Mountaineers aren’t complete without their senior leader.
Keenan Evans: Guard, Texas Tech
Evans was a surprise this year but no doubt should be on this list. Averaging 17 a game
and helping his team finish third in the nation’s toughest conference. Texas Tech and Evans
both came out of nowhere this year. Evans suffered a toe injury late in the year that probably
cost Tech the Big 12. As he and his team head into the tournament he seems to be healthier
and playing like the Evans we saw the first 3/4 of the season.
Trevon Bluiett: Guard, Xavier
Bluiett led Xavier this season to a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and a first place regular season finish in the Big East conference this season. He led the Musketeers in scoring at 19.5 points per game, which was also good for one of the best in the ultra-competitive Big East.
2nd Team All-American
Luke Maye: Forward, North Carolina
The former walk-on Tar Heel has made improvements that no one, not even Roy Williams, expected him to make. The junior forward has become a walking double-double machine. Maye has the ability to hurt teams down low or on the perimeter and deserves the All American honors.
Mikal Bridges: Guard, Villanova
The freshman that won a National Championship has come a long way and is eyeing a run of his own now that he is a leader on the team. Simply put, Bridges has been amazing this year. The junior has a solid case for Player of the Year along with a fellow teammate.
Carsen Edwards: Guard, Purdue
Purdue dominated college basketball for a good portion of the regular season and they did so through incredible ball movement and efficient perimeter shooting. The offense was run through sophomore guard Carsen Edwards, and he showed out in a breakout year. Averaging 18.5 points per game and converting 89 three-pointers at over 41%, Edwards was one of the more prolific scoring guards in college basketball and led Purdue to one of their best seasons ever.
Keita Bates-Diop: Forward, Ohio State
Ohio State looked to be deep in the darkness of a full on program rebuilding after years apart from their normal dominance. Their resurgence this year has been one of the best stories in college basketball, and it has been led by Keita Bates-Diop. After playing just 9 games a year ago, Bates-Diop put up 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game in leading the Buckeyes to a 15-3 mark in Big 10 play.
Miles Bridges: Forward, Michigan State
In what was a tumultuous year for Michigan State athletics, one of the bright spots was sophomore Miles Bridges. Bridges came back to school after his flirtation with the NBA draft and let the Spartans to Big 10 regular season championship. Bridges nearly averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds for the #3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
1st Team All-American
Marvin Bagley III: Forward, Duke
Bagley is simply one of the best players in the country. His combination of size and athleticism is too much for most bigs to handle. He had a real argument for NPOY as a player who reclassified from high school to be on a dangerous Duke squad.
DeAndre Ayton: Forward, Arizona
DeAndre Ayton has been arguably the best college basketball player in the nation this season. Averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds, he is projected to be the number one pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Only a freshman, Ayton had led the Wildcats to a great season.
Trae Young: Guard, Oklahoma
The first player to lead the country in points and assists no doubt was deserving of this
honor. The freshman guard looked unstoppable the first half of the year averaging nearly 30 and
10. His numbers dropped all the way to 27 and 8 after a rough shooting stretch in February.
Young truly was outstanding this year and if his team didn’t drop 11 of their last 15 probably
would have won the Def Pen National Player of the Year award as well.
Devonte Graham: Guard, Kansas
The Big 12 Player of the year is Kansas’s second 1st team All American in a row
following Frank Mason’s National Player of the Year campaign last year. Graham averaged 17 points and
7 assists, leading the Jayhawks to their 14th straight Big 12 title. Graham was one of the best point
guards in the country and left no doubt down the stretch he deserved to be a 1st team All
American
National Player of the Year
Jalen Brunson: Guard, Villanova
In a college basketball season filled with tremendous star power, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson takes the cake for Player of the Year. Averaging 19.4 points per game on an absurd 64.4% true shooting percentage whilst playing phenomenal defense Brunson has been the leader of a Wildcats team that could very well win another national championship.
