Stanford Basketball Star an All-American Honorable Mention

Stanford basketball may not have reached its goal this season of making a run in March Madness, but the program has proven itself in a lot of other ways, like when it comes to player development.

Putting together their second consecutive 20-win season, the Cardinal had a major breakout star in freshman guard Ebuke Okorie, who evolved into one of the nation's top freshmen. Now, the star point guard is earning the ultimate recognition for his breakout year: a spot on an Associated Press award list.

On Tuesday, March 17, Stanford University announced that Okorie earned a spot on AP's All-American honorable mention list, a very prestigious honor for any college athlete. While Okorie fell short of actually being named an All-American, an honorable mention nod signals just how promising of a season the former four-star recruit put together for a rebuilding Stanford program.

The following is a press release sent out by Stanford University regarding the announcement of Okorie's tremendous honor.

STANFORD, Calif. – For the second straight year, Stanford men’s basketball has earned an Associated Press All-America honorable mention. On Tuesday, March 17, Stanford basketball's star freshman, Ebuka Okorie, was selected by the organization to be an All-American honorable mention.

Okorie joins former Cardinal and current Sacramento Kings' center Maxime Raynaud with the honor for Stanford over the last two seasons, and he becomes the 12th player in program history to earn the honorable mention status from the AP.

Stanford has had 20 AP All-Americans in program history, inclusive of its honorable mention student-athletes. Okorie is one of three ACC players recognized and part of a historic freshman class, as nine players were honored in the AP’s announcement.

One of the top scoring guards in the country, Okorie has been a superstar this season with averages of 22.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He ranks eighth in the country in scoring and third among freshmen, trailing only BYU's AJ Dybantsa and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff, and is the ACC's scoring leader among freshmen, just ahead of Duke's Cameron Boozer.

Okorie's seven 30-point games are tied for the most by any freshman in ACC history with Marvin Bagley III (Duke) in 2017-18, and fourth in the conference's overall history. His scoring average is on pace to pass Duke’s RJ Barrett for the top mark in ACC history by any freshman player.

He would be the first freshman to meet his averages in points, rebounds, assists and steals, nationally, since Oklahoma's Trae Young and Howard's RJ Cole in 2017-18.

Elite in Stanford’s history Okorie already owns the program's scoring records by a freshman, both in a game and over the course of a season. He ranks sixth in Stanford’s single-season scoring history with 685 points, just 49 away from tying the program record, and is on pace to finish second in scoring average, trailing only Adam Keefe (1991-92).

Earlier this season, Okorie was named to the All-ACC first team, ACC All-Rookie Team and NABC All-Pacific Division first team. He was selected to the Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Late-Season Team and is a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award, given to the top freshman player in college basketball.

Okorie was a four-time ACC Rookie of the Week and one-time ACC Player of the Week, and he was named National Freshman of the Week twice – once from the NCAA’s Andy Katz (Feb. 9) and once as Dick Vitale’s Diaper Dandy of the Week (March 9).

While steadily entering the NBA Draft conversation throughout the season, Okorie is still not considered a top prospect, with the freshman commonly projected to go late in the first round. Okorie could opt to leave school and enter the draft, but he could also return for a sophomore season at Stanford if he wants to cement himself as a lottery pick next year.