In an age when it seems the best college basketball players are leaving school early for the NBA, three stayed and had senior years good enough to make The Associated Press' All-America team.
Ed O'Bannon of UCLA, Shawn Respert of Michigan State and Damon Stoudamire of Arizona led the first team Tuesday. They were joined by sophomores Joe Smith of Maryland and Jerry Stackhouse of North Carolina.None of last season's first-team selections returned to school.
Grant Hill of Duke was a senior and underclassmen Glenn Robinson of Purdue, Jason Kidd of California, Donyell Marshall of Connecticut and Clifford Rozier of Louisville applied for early entry to the NBA draft.
Despite the success of the programs represented on the first team, it had been awhile since those schools had an All-American.
Arizona was the most recent to have one with Sean Elliott making it in 1988 and 1989. J.R. Reid was North Carolina's last first-teamer in 1988. Maryland's last was two years earlier, the late Len Bias.
Both UCLA and Michigan State went 16 years without an All-American. David Greenwood of UCLA and Magic Johnson of Michigan State were on the first team in 1979.
Smith, a 6-foot-10 center, was the leading vote-getter this year, being named on all but four first-team ballots from the 66-member national panel that selects the weekly poll. He finished with 313 points in the 5-3-1 voting, two more than O'Bannon.
The ACC player of the year, Smith averaged 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and shot 58 percent from the field as the Terrapins finished in a four-way tie for first place in the conference and earned a third seed in the NCAA tournament.
O'Bannon, the Pac-10's co-player of the year with Stoudamire, averaged 20.7 points and 8.2 rebounds for the league champion Bruins, the No. 1 team in the final regular-season poll and a No. 1 seed in the tournament. The 6-8 forward, named on 60 first-team ballots, shot 54 percent from the field, including 47 percent from 3-point range. He matched Reggie Miller's school mark with seven 3-pointers in a game.
Respert, the Big Ten player of the year, received 58 first-team votes and 309 points. He is on pace to become the first Michigan State player to average better than 20 points per game for three straight seasons since Mike Robinson from 1972-74.
Stoudamire, cleared Tuesday to play for the fifth-seeded Wildcats in the tournament after allegations of NCAA violations kept him out of the regular-season finale, led the Pac-10 in scoring (23.0) and assists (7.4). The 5-101/2 point guard made 48 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range.
Stackhouse, a 6-6 forward, averaged 19.4 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who held the No. 1 spot longer than any other team this season and finished in the four-way tie for the ACC title. He was in the top eight in four major statistical categories in the ACC as North Carolina earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Randolph Childress of Wake Forest, the MVP of the ACC tournament with a record-setting 107 points in three games, was five points behind Stackhouse in the voting and was joined on the second team by Corliss Williamson of Arkansas, Kerry Kittles of Villanova, Rasheed Wallace of North Carolina and Lou Roe of Massachusetts.
The third team was Bryant Reeves of Oklahoma State, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest, Ray Allen of Connecticut, Kurt Thomas of Texas Christian and Lawrence Moten of Syracuse.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
All-America list
NEW YORK (AP) - The 1994-95 AP All-America Team with school, height, weight, class, key statistics and points from a 5-3-1 vote by a national media panel.
FIRST TEAM
Joe Smith, Maryland, 6-10, 220, sophomore, 20.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 58.0 fg pct, 2.9 blocks (313 points).
Ed O'Bannon, UCLA, 6-8, 217, senior, 20.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 54.1 fg pct, 46.5 3-pt fg pct (311).
Shawn Respert, Michigan State, 6-3, 188, senior, 25.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 47.9 3-pt fg pct, 86.8 ft pct (309).
Damon Stoudamire, Arizona, 5-11, 162, senior, 23.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 7.5 apg, 46.3 3-pt fg pct (241).
Jerry Stackhouse, North Carolina, 6-6, 218, sophomore, 19.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 51.2 fg pct, 1.8 blocks (235).
SECOND TEAM
Randolph Childress, Wake Forest, 6-2, 188, senior, 20.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 38.1 minutes (230).
Corliss Williamson, Arkansas, 6-7, 245, junior, 19.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 55.5 fg pct. (191).
Kerry Kittles, Villanova, 6-5, 179, junior, 21.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 41.6 3-pt fg pct, 2.2 steals (182).
Rasheed Wallace, North Carolina, 6-10, 225, sophomore, 17.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 66.0 fg pct, 2.8 blocks (167).
Lou Roe, Massachusetts, 6-7, 220, senior, 17.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 54.1 fg pct .
THIRD TEAM
Bryant Reeves, Oklahoma State, 7-0, 292, senior, 21.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 61.2 fg pct, 1.7 blocks .
Tim Duncan, Wake Forest, 6-10, 230, sophomore, 16.5 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 58.4 fg pct, 4.1 blocks .
Ray Allen, Connecticut, 6-5, 202, sophomore, 20.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 44.4 3-pt fg pct .
Kurt Thomas, Texas Christian, 6-9, 225, senior, 28.9 ppg, 14.6 rpg, 54.8 fg pct, 2.4 blocks .
Lawrence Moten, Syracuse, 6-5, 185, senior, 19.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.9 steals .
HONORABLE MENTION
Mario Bennett, Arizona State; Travis Best, Georgia Tech; Junior Burrough, Virginia; Marcus Camby, Massachusetts; Dan Cross, Florida.
Erick Dampier, Mississippi State; Tony Delk, Kentucky; Tyus Edney, UCLA; Michael Finley, Wisconsin; Alan Henderson, Indiana.
Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State; Allen Iverson, Georgetown; Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul; Donny Marshall, Connecticut; Cuonzo Martin, Purdue.
Ryan Minor, Oklahoma; Steve Nash, Santa Clara; Greg Ostertag, Kansas; Cherokee Parks, Duke; Terrence Rencher, Texas.
Bob Sura, Florida State; Scotty Thurman, Arkansas; Gary Trent, Ohio University; Keith Van Horn, Utah; Jacque Vaughn, Kansas.