Okafor Named to Wooden Award All-American Team

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke's Jahlil Okafor was named to the 10-player John R. Wooden Award All-American Team, as released today by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and announced on ESPNU. Okafor is Duke's leading scorer (17.5 ppg.) and rebounder (8.7 rpg.), and looks to become just the 13th freshman in ACC history to lead his team in both categories.

The All-American Team is comprised of 10 student-athletes who received the most votes from a panel of nearly 1,000 national college basketball media members, the Award's former winners and by fans through the Fan Voting site sponsored by Wendy's. The top five vote getters, including Okafor, Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein, Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, Notre Dame's Jerian Grant and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, are invited to Los Angeles for the Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy's on April 10, for a chance to earn the Wooden Award. The announcement will be televised live on ESPN2 as part of the first ever ESPN College Basketball Awards Show.

In addition to the top five, Wichita State's Ron Baker, Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon, Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle, Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer and Utah's Delon Wright were also named to the organization's All-America team.

The Wooden Award All-American team recognition marks the fifth such honor for the Chicago, Ill, native, who was also named a first team All-American by Sporting News, the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Associated Press. Okafor is looking to become the 17th consensus first team All-America selection under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Last season, Jabari Parker became the first Blue Devil since Nolan Smith in 2011 to garner such an honor.

Okafor has helped guide the Blue Devils to its 16th Final Four, ranking second in the nation in field goal percentage (.668) and 17th in the country in offensive rebounds (3.56 orpg.). Okafor is on the verge of setting a Duke freshman record for number of double-digit games in a season, currently tied with Parker for the most in school history, with 33. Okafor also owns the Duke freshman record for rebounds in a season, with 313. Earlier in the season, Okafor became just the third freshman in ACC history, and the first since Joe Smith in 1994, to score 20 points and bring down 20 rebounds in the same game.

Through the first four games of the NCAA Tournament, Okafor is averaging a team-best 15.5 points and is shooting 28-of-43 (.651) from the field. He has also contributed eight blocks, the most by a Blue Devil in the national tournament his year.

Duke resumes action Saturday, taking on seventh-seeded Michigan State in a Final Four contest. Tip is set for 6:09 p.m., with coverage on TBS.

Name	School	Conference	Ht.	Yr.	Pos.
Ron Baker	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	6-4	JR	G
Malcolm Brogdon	Virginia	ACC	6-5	JR	G
Willie Cauley-Stein*	Kentucky	SEC	7-0	JR	F
Jerian Grant*	Notre Dame	ACC	6-5	SR	G
Frank Kaminsky*	Wisconsin	Big Ten	7-0	SR	F
Jahlil Okafor*	Duke	ACC	6-11	FR	C
D'Angelo Russell*	Ohio State	Big Ten	6-5	FR	G
Seth Tuttle	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	6-8	SR	F
Kyle Wiltjer	Gonzaga	WCC	6-10	JR	F
Delon Wright	Utah	Pac-12	6-5	SR	G