Kansas Jayhawks forward Thomas Robinson, a leading national college basketball player of the year award candidate heads today’s announcement of the AP All-American team.
From the Associated Press:
Robinson, who played through personal tragedy as a sophomore reserve, capped his junior season by being a unanimous selection to The Associated Press’ All-America team Monday, a day after leading the Jayhawks to the Final Four.
The 6-foot-10 Robinson averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season and he was a first-team pick by all 65 members of the national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25.
The last unanimous pick was Griffin in 2009.
“It’s a blessing to be named even in the same category as Blake Griffin,” Robinson said. “For that to happen, I’m glad all the hard work is paying off.”
Robinson did find some similarities between them besides being Big 12 Player of the Year.
“That man jumps out the gym. He looks like a superhero when he takes off,” Robinson said. “But we both try to be aggressive. He knows what he does well. I feel the same way. I know what I do well.”
Joining Robinson on the first team were Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, the first repeat All-America in three years, freshman Anthony Davis of Kentucky, Draymond Green of Michigan State and Doug McDermott of Creighton.
Junior guard Isaiah Canaan of Murray State was joined on the second team by seniors Marcus Denmon of Missouri, Tyler Zeller of North Carolina, Jae Crowder of Marquette and Kevin Jones of West Virginia.
Also, John Shurna becomes the first Northwestern player to earn All-America recognition from the AP since Evan Eschmeyer was a second-team selection in 1999.
The 6-foot-9 forward recently completed his Northwestern career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,038. The total ranks tied for 24th in Big Ten history.
A consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection, Shurna averaged 20.0 points per game in conference play to become the first Wildcat to lead the league in scoring since Ray Ragelis in 1951. Shurna also averaged 20.0 in all games played to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest. His 661 points scored in 2011-12 broke his previous school record of 619 set during his sophomore year.
Other Big Ten players named to the All-America teams include Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Michigan State’s Draymond Green, who were both named to the first team, while Michigan’s Trey Burke, Purdue’s Robbie Hummel, Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor and Indiana’s Cody Zeller joined Shurna as honorable mention picks.
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