ESPN says KU’s Dotson, Azubuike are first-team All-Americans; Garrett is top defender
Kansas senior center Udoka Azubuike and sophomore point guard Devon Dotson have been chosen first-team All-America by ESPN.com.
Others on the first team: Iowa’s Luka Garza, Dayton’s Obi Toppin and Oregon’s Payton Pritchard.
“Amid all the Udoka Azubuike love over the past few weeks, this was a terrific sophomore season for Dotson. (He was) No. 1 in KenPom’s Player of the Year race and the only player in the country at least 5.0 adjusted points above replacement at both ends of the floor,” writes Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com.
Of Azubuike, ESPN’s Borzello wrote: “Perhaps the most valuable player in the country, Azubuike is a unique big man with few peers in the sport in terms of sheer physical dominance. He had the best game of his career in the season’s biggest game against Baylor: 23 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks.”
Four organizations who select All-America teams are used by the NCAA to determine consensus All-America status: The Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Sporting News.
Of those four, only the Sporting News has released its All-America teams, which had Dotson and Azubuike on the second team. Garza, Toppin, Pritchard, Marquette’s Markus Howard and Seton Hall’s Myles Powell were on the first team.
KU junior combo guard Marcus Garrett was ESPN.com’s defensive player of the year. Baylor’s Mark Vital was cited as runner-up.
“Kansas had one of the most dominant defensive seasons of all time, and Garrett is at the heart of it all. He’s a versatile defender who can guard nearly any position on the floor and uses his length and athleticism to disrupt the game consistently,” Borzello writes. “Garrett had a stretch in February when he had at least three steals in five straight games and nearly single-handedly stifled West Virginia’s offense in the second half of a February game. He has made strides on the offensive end, becoming a legitimate go-to option on the wing for the Jayhawks, but it’s still his defense that remains his calling card.”
CBSsports honors Dotson, Azubuike
Azubuike was picked first-team All-America and Devon Dotson made the second team according to CBSsports.com.
The 7-foot Azubuike was joined on the first team by Howard, Pritchard, Toppin and Garza.
“Kansas was set to enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and favorite to win what would’ve been Bill Self’s second national championship. There are lots of reasons for that — not the least of which is Self himself. But the biggest reason, both figuratively and literally, is Udoka Azubuike,” writes Gary Parrish of CBSsports.com.
“The 7-foot, 270-pound center averaged 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting a national-best 74.8% from the field. He got 23 points and 19 rebounds in a late-season victory at Baylor, 31 points and 14 rebounds three games later against TCU. Simply put, nobody was more physically overwhelming for opponents down the stretch than Azubuike. He earned this honor in the final weeks of the regular season,” Parrish added.
CBSsports.com’s second team consists of Dotson plus Powell; Malachi Flynn, San Diego State; Felip Petrusev, Gonzaga and Vernon Carey, Duke.
“Kansas will officially finish as the No. 1 team in college basketball, and Devon Dotson’s got his fingerprints all over that. He led the Big 12 in scoring and steals — and finished fifth in assists for a Jayhawks team that was the betting favorite to win March Madness,” Parrish writes.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 9:23 PM with the headline "ESPN says KU’s Dotson, Azubuike are first-team All-Americans; Garrett is top defender."
