Oscar Tshiebwe becomes Kentucky’s first AP First Team All-American since 2016

University of Kentucky junior Oscar Tshiebwe was one of five players from the Southeastern Conference to earn All-America recognition from The Associated Press when its annual teams were announced Tuesday.

Tshiebwe, who will lead No. 2 Kentucky against St. Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 on Thursday night, was named to the AP’s five-man First Team, joining Iowa’s Keegan Murray, Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis and Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji.

The 6-foot-9 Tshiebwe has averaged 17.0 points and 15.1 rebounds in leading the Wildcats to a 26-7 record.

All the First Team picks have their teams positioned to make a postseason run.

Murray, a sophomore guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who is fourth nationally in scoring at 23.6 points per game, will lead the fifth-seeded Hawkeyes against Richmond on Thursday. Cockburn, the bruising forward from Kingston, Jamaica, and the fourth-seeded Fighting Illini play Chattanooga on Friday, the same day Davis and the third-seeded Badgers open against Colgate. Agbaji and the top-seeded Jayhawks open against one of the play-in teams.

Davis is the Badgers’ third First Team All-American, joining Alando Tucker in 2007 and Frank Kaminsky in 2015, while Tshiebwe is the first for Kentucky since Tyler Ulis in 2016. Agbaji gives the Jayhawks a First Team pick for the third time in six years after Frank Mason in 2017 and Devonte Graham in 2018.

Second Team

Drew Timme of Gonzaga led the AP Second Team for the second straight year and was joined by freshman teammate Chet Holmgren. Jaden Ivey of Purdue gave the Big Ten another All-American, while likely No. 1 draft pick Jabari Smith of Auburn and Benedict Mathurin of Arizona rounded out the Second Team.

The Bulldogs, who are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, also had two Second Team picks last year in Timme and Jalen Suggs. Another teammate, Corey Kispert, was a First Teamer last year.

Third Team

Paolo Banchero of Duke was the only player from the ACC to be chosen for one of the first three teams, while the Blue Devils were the only team from the vaunted basketball conference to land in the final Top 25 poll this season. Banchero also will go down as the final All-American in a long list to have played for retiring Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Banchero was joined on the Third Team by Collin Gillespie of Villanova and E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, both of whom were honorable mention picks last season, and Walker Kessler of Auburn. James Akinjo of Baylor and JD Notae of Arkansas tied for the last spot on the Third Team, giving it six members rather than five.

Honorable Mention

David Roddy of Colorado State was the top vote getter among the honorable mention selections. Others to receive the honor include Armando Bacot of North Carolina; Johnny Juzang of UCLA; Alondes Williams of Wake Forest; Tari Eason of LSU; Zach Edey of Purdue; two-time pick Max Abmas of Oral Roberts; and Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers.