ST. LOUIS (USBWA) North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough headlines the 2007-08 U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-America Team. The 6-9 junior from Poplar Bluff, Mo., has earned a spot on the first team for the second straight season.
Hansbrough has led the Tar Heels to the ACC regular-season and tournament championships and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAATournament, which opens Tuesday. He is among the five first-team selections, who are also the five finalists for the 2007-08 Oscar Robertson Trophy, awarded by the USBWA to the national player of the year.
After earning USBWA National Freshman of the Year honors in 2006, Hansbrough has now earned back-to-back USBWA first-team All-America honors. The ACC player of the year has averaged 23.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game to help UNC to a 32-2 record entering the NCAA tournament. He is the seventh North Carolina's player to earn USBWA All-America honors at least twice and the first since Michael Jordan.
Michael Beasley, the 2008 USBWA National Freshman of the Year, has Kansas State back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996 as well. He leads the nation in rebounds (12.5) and is third in scoring (26.5). This season, he has recorded three 40-point games and 13 30-point games. Beasley is the first USBWA All-American from Kansas State since Mitch Richmond in 1988.
For the third straight season, Texas has a player on the USBWA All-America team. D.J. Augustin has averaged 19.8 points per game (second in the Big 12) to go with a Big 12-leading 5.7 assists in leading the Longhorns to a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. He was a first-team All-Big 12 selection.
Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Conference USA player of the year, gives the Tigers a first-team All-American for the first time since Anfernee Hardaway earned the honor in 1993. Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers in scoring and was sixth in C-USA (17.2) and second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (44.9). Memphis is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament's South Region.
UCLA's Kevin Love, the Pac-10 player of the year, became just the second freshman to earn that honor. In leading UCLA to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, he has scored in double figures in every game and is sixth in the league in scoring (17.1) and second in rebounds (10.6). He rounds out the first-team selections and also gives UCLA a back-to-back USBWA All-America selection, following Arron Afflalo last season.
Five players were also chosen for the USBWA's second team.
Vanderbilt's Shan Foster, the SEC player of the year, leads the conference in scoring (20.8), three-point field goals per game (4.1) and three-point field goal percentage (47.8). He is the third USBWA All-America selection from Vanderbilt and the first since Billy McCaffrey in 1993.
Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, the Big East player of the year, led the conference in scoring (20.8) and was second in rebounds (10.2). He is the first Notre Dame player to be selected as a USBWA All-American since Pat Garrity in 1998.
Chris Lofton is the first USBWA All-American from Tennessee since Dale Ellis in 1983. With 16.0 points per game, he has led the Volunteers to a school-record 29 wins the Tennessee's first outright SEC regular-season title since 1967. The first-team All-SEC selection also leads the conference in free throw percentage (84.2)
Connecticut's A.J. Price, an All-Big East selection, averaged 14.7 points and 6.0 assists this season. With his selection to the second team, Connecticut now has had three USBWA All-Americans in the last five seasons.
Indiana's D.J. White, the Big Ten player of the year, led the league in rebounding (10.4) and field goal percentage (60.4) and was second in scoring (17.3). He is Indiana's first USBWA All-America selection since Jared Jeffries in 2002.
Following is the complete 2007-08 USBWA All-America team:
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. Today, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its All-America team, contact executive director Joe Mitch and 314-421-0339.
Related link:
2007-08 USBWA All-District teams
· All-time USBWA All-America teams