Youth Movement: Big 12 First League With Freshman All-American From Two Schools
April 14th, 2013 - 21:53
The Big 12 Conference became the first league to have two different schools supply a freshman All-American in the same season - Kansas' Ben McLemore and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony was the only freshman All-American in a nine-year span from 1997 through 2005 before there was an average of two freshman A-As the last seven years. McLemore and Smart are among the following chronological list of 35 individuals to earn All-American recognition as a freshman:
| Year | Freshman All-American | Pos. | College | First-Year All-American Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Arnie Ferrin | F | Utah | C1 |
| 1946 | Tony Lavelli | F | Yale | C3 |
| 1947 | Kevin O'Shea | G | Notre Dame | NABC3 |
| 1952 | Tom Gola | C-F | La Salle | C1 |
| 1975 | Phil Ford | G | North Carolina | C2 |
| 1975 | Bernard King | F | Tennessee | C2, UPI2, NABC3 |
| 1978 | Earvin "Magic" Johnson | G | Michigan State | NABC2, AP3, UPI3 |
| 1978 | Darnell Valentine | G | Kansas | C2 |
| 1979 | Mark Aguirre | F | DePaul | C2 |
| 1980 | Ralph Sampson | C | Virginia | C2 |
| 1982 | Patrick Ewing | C | Georgetown | C2 |
| 1982 | Keith Lee | C | Memphis State | C1, AP2 |
| 1983 | Wayman Tisdale | F-C | Oklahoma | AP1, C1, USBWA1, UPI2, NABC3 |
| 1988 | Mark Macon | G | Temple | AP2, NABC2 |
| 1989 | Chris Jackson | G | Louisiana State | AP1, UPI1, USBWA1, NABC2 |
| 1989 | Alonzo Mourning | C | Georgetown | AP3, UPI3 |
| 1990 | Kenny Anderson | G | Georgia Tech | NABC1, AP3 |
| 1994 | Joe Smith | C | Maryland | UPI3 |
| 1996 | Sharef Abdur-Rahim | F-C | California | AP3, NABC3 |
| 2003 | Carmelo Anthony | F | Syracuse | AP2, NABC2, USBWA2 |
| 2006 | Tyler Hansbrough | C | North Carolina | AP3 |
| 2007 | Kevin Durant | F | Texas | AP1, NABC1, USBWA1 |
| 2007 | Greg Oden | C | Ohio State | AP1, NABC2, USBWA2 |
| 2008 | Michael Beasley | F | Kansas State | AP1, NABC1, USBWA1 |
| 2008 | Eric Gordon | G | Indiana | NABC2, AP3 |
| 2008 | Kevin Love | C | UCLA | AP1, USBWA1, NABC2 |
| 2008 | Derrick Rose | G | Memphis | AP3, NABC3 |
| 2010 | DeMarcus Cousins | C | Kentucky | AP1, NABC2, USBWA2 |
| 2010 | John Wall | G | Kentucky | AP1, NABC1, USBWA1 |
| 2011 | Jared Sullinger | F-C | Ohio State | AP1, NABC1, USBWA1 |
| 2012 | Anthony Davis | C | Kentucky | AP1, NABC1, USBWA1 |
| 2012 | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | F | Kentucky | USBWA2, AP3, NABC3 |
| 2012 | Austin Rivers | G | Duke | NABC3 |
| 2013 | Ben McLemore | F | Kansas | AP2, NABC2, USBWA2 |
| 2013 | Marcus Smart | G | Oklahoma State | AP2, NABC2, USBWA2 |
All-American Recognition Key: AP - Associated Press; C - Converse; NABC - National Association of Basketball Coaches; UPI - United Press International; USBWA - United States Basketball Writers Association.