Missing in Main Action: Simmons First AWOL Consensus A-A in 38 Years
April 14th, 2017 - 12:54
Freshman phenom or flop. Last season, LSU's Ben Simmons was the first NCAA consensus All-American in 38 years (since Minnesota's Mychal Thompson and Portland State's Freeman Williams in 1978) to leave college after failing to appear in either of the two principal national postseason tournaments during their career. After previously occurring frequently, Army's Kevin Houston (1987) had been the last All-American of any type to miss the NCAA tourney and NIT. Houston, Thompson and Williams are several of 23 four-year players among all A-As in this dubious category.
Simmons and fellow All-Americans Kay Felder (Oakland) and Markelle Fultz (Washington freshman this campaign) might have made bigger names for themselves if they had participated in national postseason competition prior to declaring early for the NBA draft. Fultz is the 126th standout from a member of an existing power league (26 of them consensus) on the following alphabetical list of All-Americans who never competed in the NCAA playoffs or NIT since the events were introduced in the late 1930s:
| Player | Position | School | Years All-American |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alvan Adams | C | Oklahoma | 1974 and 1975 |
| Jim Ashmore | G | Mississippi State | 1957 |
| Chet Aubuchon | G | Michigan State | 1940 |
| *Don Barksdale | C | UCLA | 1947 |
| Leo Barnhorst | F-C-G | Notre Dame | 1949 |
| John Barr | G | Penn State | 1941 |
| *Walt Bellamy | C | Indiana | 1961 |
| Gale Bishop | F-C | Washington State | 1943 |
| Bruno Boin | F-C | Washington | 1957 |
| George BonSalle | C | Illinois | 1957 |
| Wally Borrevik | C | Oregon State | 1944 |
| *Vince Boryla | F-C | Notre Dame/Denver | 1949 |
| Fred Boyd | G | Oregon State | 1972 |
| *Frank Burgess | G | Gonzaga | 1961 |
| Jim Burns | G | Northwestern | 1967 |
| Lawrence Butler | G | Idaho State | 1979 |
| *Leo Byrd | F | Marshall | 1959 |
| Bob Calihan | C | Detroit | 1939 |
| Dan Callandrillo | G | Seton Hall | 1982 |
| Joe Capua | G | Wyoming | 1956 |
| Tom Chilton | F | East Tennessee State | 1961 |
| *Doug Collins | G | Illinois State | 1973 |
| Russ Critchfield | G | California | 1967 |
| Billy Cunningham | F | North Carolina | 1964 and 1965 |
| *Chuck Darling | C | Iowa | 1952 |
| A.W. Davis | F | Tennessee | 1965 |
| Charlie Davis | G | Wake Forest | 1971 |
| ***Terry Dischinger | C-F | Purdue | 1960 through 1962 |
| Bill Ebben | F | Detroit | 1957 |
| Paul Ebert | C | Ohio State | 1952 through 1954 |
| Frank Ehmann | F | Northwestern | 1955 |
| Bob Faris | F | George Washington | 1939 |
| Bob Faught | C | Notre Dame | 1942 |
| Kay Felder | G | Oakland | 2016 |
| Ken Flower | G | Southern California | 1953 |
| **Darrell Floyd | G-F | Furman | 1955 and 1956 |
| *Chet Forte | G | Columbia | 1957 |
| Don Freeman | F | Illinois | 1966 |
| **Robin Freeman | G | Ohio State | 1955 and 1956 |
| Markelle Fultz | G | Washington | 2017 |
| Terry Furlow | F | Michigan State | 1976 |
| *Dave Gambee | F | Oregon State | 1958 |
| *Dick Garmaker | F | Minnesota | 1954 and 1955 |
| Bill Garrett | C | Indiana | 1951 |
| Ed Gayda | F | Washington State | 1950 |
| Harold Gensichen | F | Western Michigan | 1943 |
| Ralph "Toddy" Giannini | G | Santa Clara | 1940 |
| Joe Gibbon | F | Mississippi | 1957 |
| Chester "Chet" Giermak | C | William & Mary | 1950 |
| **Otto Graham | F | Northwestern | 1943 and 1944 |
| **Dick Groat | G | Duke | 1951 and 1952 |
| **Dale Hall | F | Army | 1944 and 1945 |
| *Ralph Hamilton | F | Indiana | 1947 |
| Bill Hanson | F-C | Washington | 1962 |
| Vince Hanson | C | Washington State | 1945 |
| Bill Hapac | F | Illinois | 1940 |
| Jules "Skip" Harlicka | G | South Carolina | 1968 |
| Jerry Harper | C-F | Alabama | 1956 |
| *Spencer Haywood | F-C | Detroit | 1969 |
| **Fred Hetzel | F-C | Davidson | 1963 through 1965 |
| Joe Hobbs | G | Florida | 1958 |
| Paul Hoffman | F-C | Purdue | 1947 |
| Kevin Houston | G | Army | 1987 |
| Frank Howard | C-F | Ohio State | 1957 |
| **Bailey Howell | F-C | Mississippi State | 1958 and 1959 |
| Lou Hudson | G-F | Minnesota | 1965 and 1966 |
| *Dick Ives | F | Iowa | 1944 and 1945 |
| *Chester "Chet" Jaworski | G | Rhode Island State | 1939 |
| Ron Johnson | C | Minnesota | 1959 and 1960 |
| Vinnie Johnson | G | Baylor | 1979 |
| Paul Judson | G | Illinois | 1956 |
| Rich Kelley | C | Stanford | 1975 |
| *Walt Kirk | G | Illinois | 1945 |
| **Leo Klier | F | Notre Dame | 1944 and 1946 |
| Ed Koffenberger | C-F | Duke | 1946 and 1947 |
| Tom Kondla | C | Minnesota | 1967 |
| Ron Kramer | C | Michigan | 1957 |
| Dennis "Mo" Layton | G | Southern California | 1971 |
| Kevin Loder | F | Alabama State | 1981 |
| Stan Love | C | Oregon | 1971 |
| Jeff Malone | G | Mississippi State | 1983 |
| John Mandic | C | Oregon State | 1942 |
| Julius McCoy | F | Michigan State | 1956 |
| Banks McFadden | C | Clemson | 1939 |
| George McGinnis | F | Indiana | 1971 |
| *Jim McIntyre | C | Minnesota | 1948 and 1949 |
| Mark McNamara | C | California | 1982 |
| Carl McNulty | C | Purdue | 1952 |
| Chuck Mencel | G | Minnesota | 1953 and 1955 |
| Mike Mitchell | F | Auburn | 1978 |
| *Bill Mlkvy | F | Temple | 1951 |
| **Glen Max Morris | C-F | Northwestern | 1945 and 1946 |
| Jack Murdock | G | Wake Forest | 1957 |
| Phillip "Red" Murrell | F | Drake | 1958 |
| Don Nelson | F-C | Iowa | 1961 and 1962 |
| *Johnny Neumann | F-G | Mississippi | 1971 |
| Paul Neumann | G | Stanford | 1959 |
| Albert "Ab" Nicholas | G | Wisconsin | 1952 |
| Don Ohl | G | Illinois | 1958 |
| Frank Oleynick | G | Seattle | 1975 |
| Dick O'Neal | C | Texas Christian | 1957 |
| Bernie Opper | G | Kentucky | 1939 |
| **Kevin O'Shea | G | Notre Dame | 1947 through 1950 |
| Robert Parish | C | Centenary | 1974 through 1976 |
| Roger Phegley | G-F | Bradley | 1978 |
| Ricky Pierce | F-G | Rice | 1982 |
| Lou Pucillo | G | North Carolina State | 1959 |
| Dave Quabius | G | Marquette | 1939 |
| Ray Ragelis | F-C | Northwestern | 1951 |
| Jimmy Rayl | G | Indiana | 1962 and 1963 |
| Bob Rensberger | G | Notre Dame | 1943 |
| John Richter | C | North Carolina State | 1959 |
| Bill Ridley | G | Illinois | 1956 |
| Eddie Riska | F | Notre Dame | 1941 |
| Flynn Robinson | G | Wyoming | 1965 |
| Mike Robinson | G | Michigan State | 1974 |
| Wil Robinson | G | West Virginia | 1972 |
| Gene Rock | F-G | Southern California | 1943 |
| Marshall Rogers | G | Pan American | 1976 |
| Joe Ruklick | C | Northwestern | 1959 |
| **Dave Schellhase | F | Purdue | 1965 and 1966 |
| Harv Schmidt | F | Illinois | 1957 |
| Dave Scholz | F | Illinois | 1969 |
| Danny Schultz | G | Tennessee | 1964 |
| **Frank Selvy | F | Furman | 1952 through 1954 |
| *George Senesky | F-G | St. Joseph's | 1943 |
| *Bill Sharman | G | Southern California | 1950 |
| Gene Shue | F | Maryland | 1953 and 1954 |
| *Ben Simmons | F-G | Louisiana State | 2016 |
| Gary Simmons | G | Idaho | 1958 |
| Ralph Simpson | F-G | Michigan State | 1970 |
| Meyer "Whitey" Skoog | F-G | Minnesota | 1949 through 1951 |
| Doug Smart | C-F | Washington | 1957 through 1959 |
| Chris Smith | C | Virginia Tech | 1960 |
| Don Smith | C | Iowa State | 1968 |
| Glen Smith | F | Utah | 1952 |
| Forrest "Frosty" Sprowl | F | Purdue | 1942 |
| Bill Stauffer | F-C | Missouri | 1952 |
| Terry Teagle | G-F | Baylor | 1982 |
| Gary Thompson | G | Iowa State | 1957 |
| **Mychal Thompson | F-C | Minnesota | 1977 and 1978 |
| Rudy Tomjanovich | F | Michigan | 1969 and 1970 |
| Gene Tormohlen | C | Tennessee | 1959 |
| Walt Torrence | G-F | UCLA | 1959 |
| John Townsend | F | Michigan | 1938 |
| Vic "Slick" Townsend | G-F | Oregon | 1941 |
| Dick Van Arsdale | F | Indiana | 1965 |
| Tom Van Arsdale | F | Indiana | 1965 |
| Ernie Vandeweghe | F | Colgate | 1949 |
| *Grady Wallace | F | South Carolina | 1957 |
| Lou Watson | F-G | Indiana | 1950 |
| Nick Werkman | F | Seton Hall | 1963 |
| Paul Westphal | G | Southern California | 1971 and 1972 |
| *Murray Wier | G-F | Iowa | 1948 |
| Richard "Buzz" Wilkinson | G | Virginia | 1955 |
| *Freeman Williams | G | Portland State | 1977 and 1978 |
| Max Williams | G | Southern Methodist | 1960 |
| Sam Williams | F | Iowa | 1968 |
| *Mark Workman | C | West Virginia | 1951 and 1952 |
| George Yardley | F | Stanford | 1950 |
| Rich Yunkus | C | Georgia Tech | 1970 and 1971 |
*Times named an NCAA consensus All-American.