BATON ROUGE – LSU’s Ben Simmons, on the eve of his first counting college basketball game Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, was named a preseason selection to the Associated Press All-America team announced on Monday.
The Tigers and Simmons open the 2015-16 season against McNeese State on Friday night at 8 p.m. in the Maravich Center in the first of three home games in the first seven days of the season. Tickets are available at LSutix.net for the game as well as season tickets starting as low as $100.
Simmons joins seniors Kyle Wiltjer of Gonzaga, Georges Niang of Iowa State and Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, along with junior Kris Dunn of Providence.
While this is the third straight year for the pre-season All-America team selected by a panel of 65 media voters, it is only the fourth time a freshman has been named to the five-player team.
The others — Harrison Barnes of North Carolina (2010-11), Andrew Wiggins of Kansas (2013-14), and Jahlil Okafor of Duke (2014-15) — all were high picks in the NBA draft after leaving school early.
Simmons, a 6-foot-10 native of Australia, had averages of 28.0 points, 11.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a high school senior in Florida at Montverde Academy. He averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds in LSU’s five-game foreign tour of his home country in August.
Wiltjer, who averaged 16.7 points and 6.0 rebounds last season, was the leading vote-getter, receiving 51 votes from the 65-member national media panel. He began his college career at Kentucky.
Niang, who was the runner-up with 46 votes, averaged 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Cyclones last season, one that ended with a disappointing second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament. Dunn, one of the best two-way guards in recent years, averaged 15.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.7 steals. He was named on 43 ballots.
Hield, who received 40 votes, was the Sooners’ scoring threat as he averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Simmons rounded out the team with 27 votes, one more than Maryland’s Melo Trimble.
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AP Preseason All-America Team
Player, Class, School
Kyle Wiltjer, Sr., Gonzaga
Georges Niang, Sr., Iowa St.
Kris Dunn, Jr., Providence
Buddy Hield, Sr., Oklahoma
Ben Simmons, Fr., LSU
Second Team
Skal Labissiere, Fr., Kentucky
Georges Niang, Sr., Iowa State
Ron Baker, Sr., Wichita State
Yogi Ferrell, Sr., Indiana
Kris Dunn, Jr., Providence
Third Team
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke
Nigel Hayes, Jr., Wisconsin
Domantas Sabonis, So., Gonzaga
Fred VanVleet, Sr., Wichita State
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia
HONORABLE MENTION: G Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), G Jamal Murray (Kentucky), F Jaylen Brown (California), C Jakob Poeltl (Utah), G Grayson Allen (Duke) G Derryck Thornton (Duke), G Damion Lee (Louisville), Nic Moore (SMU), F Perry Ellis (Kansas), F Cheick Diallo (Kansas), C Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), F Caris LeVert (Michigan), Bryce Alford (UCLA), Isaiah Taylor (Texas).