BATON ROUGE — LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton was named second team All-American Monday by Rivals.com.
Thornton helped the Tigers to the Southeastern Conference regular season championship and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament as LSU under first-year coach Trent Johnson posted a 27-8 record and a 13-3 mark in the SEC as LSU won the Western Division for the fourth time this decade and for the third time the regular season overall crown in the 2000s.
Of Thornton, Rivals.com’s basketball staff wrote: “Thornton ranked second in the SEC with 21.2 points per game and averaged 27.5 points in LSU’s two NCAA Tournament contests. He scored in double figures in each of his last 19 games. Thornton always was considered a reliable scorer, but he expanded his game this year to emerge as a quality defender.”
On the first team were Hasheem Thabeet of UConn, Dajuan Blair of Pittsburgh, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, Toney Douglas of Florida State and Ty Lawson of North Carolina. On the second team with Thornton were: Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Gerald Henderson of Duke, Stephen Curry of Davidson and Jodie Meeks of Kentucky.
Rivals.com All-America Teams
First Team
C ? Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut (7-3, 263, Jr.)
F ? DaJuan Blair, Pittsburgh (6-7, 265, So.)
F ? Blake Griffin, Oklahoma (6-10, 251, So.)
G ? Toney Douglas, Florida State (6-2, 200, Sr.)
G ? Ty Lawson, North Carolina (5-11, 195, Jr.)
Second Team
F ? Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (6-9, 250, Sr.)
F ? Gerald Henderson, Duke (6-4, 215, Jr.)
G ? Stephen Curry, Davidson (6-3, 185, Jr.)
G ? Jodie Meeks, Kentucky (6-4, 208, Jr.)
G ? Marcus Thornton, LSU (6-4, 205, Sr.)
Third Team
C ? Jordan Hill, Arizona (6-10, 235, Jr.)
F ? Luke Harangody, Notre Dame (6-8, 251, Jr.)
G ? Sherron Collins, Kansas (5-11, 200, Jr.)
G ? James Harden, Arizona State (6-5, 218, So.)
G ? Jerrel McNeal, Marquette (6-3, 200, Sr.)
Fourth Team
C ? Cole Aldrich, Kansas (6-10, 245., So.)
F ? Terrence Williams, Louisville (6-6, 215, Sr.)
F ? Sam Young, Pittsburgh (6-6, 215, Sr.)
G ? Jonny Flynn, Syracuse (6-0, 185, So.)
G ? Eric Maynor, Virginia Commonwealth (6-3, 175, Sr.)