Okafor, Kaminsky headline AP preseason All-America team
The Associated Press released its preseason All-America team on Monday.
The five players who made the team are Duke's Jahlil Okafor, Wichita State's Fred VanVleet, North Carolina's Marcus Paige, Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky and Louisville's Montrezl Harrell.
Okafor, a freshman center, was the consensus top-ranked recruit in the class of 2014. SI.com projects the Chicago native to lead all freshmen in scoring (16.1 ppg) and average 9.1 rebounds.
Okafor joins Kansas product Andrew Wiggins and UNC product Harrison Barnes as the third freshman in the last five years to make the preseason AP All-America team.
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Paige, a junior point guard, recorded 17.5 points and 3.2 assists per game in leading the Tar Heels to a fourth-place finish in the ACC and a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. He received more votes (58) than anyone on the team.
VanVleet, a junior point guard, helped the Shockers go undefeated in the regular season last year while averaging 11.6 points and 5.4 assists per game.
Kaminsky, a senior forward, emerged as one of the top offensive big men in the nation last season and powered Wisconsin to its first Final Four appearance under longtime coach Bo Ryan.
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Harrell, a junior forward, elected to return to Louisville for another season after more than doubling his scoring and rebounding averages and developing into a potential first-round draft pick. Harrell was second, behind Paige, with 56 votes.
Kentucky was voted atop the APpreseason poll, which was released last week.
- Chris Johnson
