Senioritis: Standouts Failing to Return to All-American Status Their Final Year
Senioritis is a colloquial term referring to an illness described as decreased motivation displayed by students nearing the end of their careers. In basketball lingo, it's a dreaded disease also afflicting All-Americans.
There was no such senior this past season, but the malady lingers even in an era when the majority of premium players bid adieu the first time a pro scout watches one of their games.
Actually, this ailment is rarely a player's fault and seems to mainly infect voters. In one of the greatest injustices in NCAA history, Seton Hall's Nick Werkman averaged 33.2 ppg and 13.8 rpg in 1963-64 but wasn't named an All-American for the second straight season.
Werkman is among 18 players who didn't retain A-A status despite averaging more than 20 points per game as a senior. Following is an alphabetical list of major-college players named All-American as an undergraduate since the late 1940s (after the roster disruption of WWII) but not as a senior when they fell off the honors radar:
| Senior Player | Pos. | School | Year(s) as A-A | Final Season Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Bruno Boin | C | Washington | 1957 | 15.2 ppg in 1958-59 |
| Joe Caldwell | F | Arizona State | 1963 | 21.8 ppg and 12.2 rpg in 1963-64 |
| Isaiah Canaan | G | Murray State | 2012 | 21.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 4.3 apg in 2012-13 |
| Lorenzo Charles | F | North Carolina State | 1984 | 18.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg in 1984-85 |
| Derrick Chievous | F | Missouri | 1987 | 23.4 ppg and 8.5 rpg in 1987-88 |
| Bonzie Colson | F | Notre Dame | 2017 | 19.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.7 spg, 2.2 bpg and 55.1 FG% despite missing half of 2017-18 because of broken left foot |
| Bobby Cook | F | Wisconsin | 1947 | 12.4 ppg in 1947-48 |
| Russ Critchfield | G | California | 1967 | 22 ppg in 1967-68 |
| John "Hook" Dillon | F | North Carolina | 1946 and 1947 | 182 points in 1947-48 |
| Bruce Douglas | G | Illinois | 1984 | 8.8 ppg and 6.2 apg in 1985-86 after 7.9 ppg and 5.7 apg in 1984-85 |
| Erwin Dudley | F-C | Alabama | 2002 | 14.8 ppg and 9.5 rpg in 2002-03 |
| Louis Dunbar | F-G | Houston | 1974 | 24.3 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 1974-75 |
| Bill Erickson | G | Illinois | 1949 | 10.4 ppg in 1949-50 |
| Kenny Fields | F | UCLA | 1983 | 17.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg in 1983-84 |
| Ryan Gomes | F | Providence | 2004 | 21.6 ppg and 8.2 rpg in 2004-05 |
| Jimmy Hagan | C | Tennessee Tech | 1959 | 24.3 ppg and 17.2 rpg in 1959-60 |
| Julius Hodge | G-F | North Carolina State | 2004 | 17 ppg and 6.6 rpg in 2004-05 |
| Terrell "Tu" Holloway | G | Xavier | 2011 | 17.5 ppg and 4.9 apg in 2011-12 |
| Frank Howard | C-F | Ohio State | 1957 | 16.9 ppg and 13.6 rpg in 1957-58 |
| Robbie Hummel | F | Purdue | 2010 | 16.4 ppg and 7.2 rpg in 2011-12 after missing entire 2010-11 season with reinjured right knee |
| Thad Jaracz | C-F | Kentucky | 1966 | 11.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg in 1967-68 after 11.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg in 1966-67 |
| George Kaftan | F-C | Holy Cross | 1947 and 1948 | 11.6 ppg in 1948-49 |
| Ted Kitchel | F | Indiana | 1982 | 17.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg in 1982-83 |
| Brandin Knight | G | Pittsburgh | 2002 | 11.2 ppg and 6.3 apg in 2002-03 |
| Tom Kondla | C | Minnesota | 1967 | 21 ppg and 9 rpg in 1967-68 |
| John Lucas III | G | Oklahoma State | 2004 | 17.7 ppg and 4.1 apg in 2004-05 |
| Mark Macon | G | Temple | 1988 | 22 ppg and 4.9 rpg in 1990-91 after 18.3 ppg and 5.6 rpg in 1988-89 plus 21.9 ppg and 6 rpg in 1989-90 |
| Luke Maye | F | North Carolina | 2018 | 14.9 ppg and 10.5 rpg in 2018-19 |
| Billy McCaffrey | G | Vanderbilt | 1993 | 20.6 ppg 4.2 apg in 1993-94 |
| Bill Mlkvy | F | Temple | 1951 | 17.4 ppg and 15.8 rpg in 1951-52 |
| Lee Nailon | C | Texas Christian | 1998 | 22.8 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 1998-99 |
| Anthony Peeler | G | Missouri | 1990 and 1991 | 23.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg in 1991-92 |
| Ronnie Perry | G | Holy Cross | 1977 through 1979 | 22.9 ppg and 2.9 apg in 1979-80 |
| Chris Porter | F | Auburn | 1999 | 14.6 ppg and 7.3 rpg in 1999-00 |
| A.J. Price | G | Connecticut | 2008 | 14.7 ppg and 4.7 apg in 2008-09 |
| Mark Randall | F-C | Kansas | 1990 | 15 ppg and 6.2 rpg in 1990-91 |
| Pat Riley | F | Kentucky | 1966 | 17.4 ppg and 7.7 rpg in 1966-67 |
| Lawrence Roberts | F-C | Mississippi State | 2004 | 16.9 ppg and 11 rpg in 2004-05 |
| Sean Singletary | G | Virginia | 2007 | 19.8 ppg and 6.1 apg in 2007-08 |
| Chris Smith | C | Virginia Tech | 1960 | 19.9 ppg and 16.5 rpg in 1960-61 |
| Michael Smith | C-F | Brigham Young | 1988 | 26.4 ppg and 8.6 rpg in 1988-89 |
| Ken Spain | C | Houston | 1968 | 14.8 ppg and 11.6 rpg in 1968-69 |
| Hank Stein | G | Xavier | 1958 | 13.7 ppg in 1958-59 |
| Jordan Taylor | G | Wisconsin | 2011 | 14.8 ppg and 4.1 apg in 2011-12 |
| Kenny Thomas | C | New Mexico | 1998 | 17.8 ppg and 10 rpg in 1998-99 |
| Chris Thomforde | C | Princeton | 1967 | 14.8 ppg and 8.2 rpg in 1968-69 after 12.2 ppg and 8.8 rpg in 1967-68 |
| Monte Towe | G | North Carolina State | 1974 | 10.4 ppg and 4.1 apg in 1974-75 |
| Jim Tucker | C | Duquesne | 1952 | 13.4 ppg and 13.6 rpg in 1953-54 after 15.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg in 1952-53 |
| Fred VanVleet | G | Wichita State | 2014 | 12.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.5 apg and 1.8 spg in 2015-16 after 13.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.2 apg and 1.9 spg in 2014-15 |
| Clarence Weatherspoon | F | Southern Mississippi | 1991 | 22.3 ppg and 10.5 rpg in 1991-92 |
| Nick Werkman | F | Seton Hall | 1963 | 33.2 ppg and 13.8 rpg in 1963-64 |
| Sherman White | C | Long Island | 1950 | 25.4 ppg in 1950-51 |
| Henry Wilmore | F-G | Michigan | 1971 and 1972 | 21.8 ppg and 6 rpg in 1972-73 |
| George Wilson | C | Cincinnati | 1963 | 16.1 ppg and 12.5 rpg in 1963-64 |
| Luke Witte | C | Ohio State | 1972 | 13.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg in 1972-73 |
*Boin missed the 1957-58 season after dropping out of school and playing AAU ball.
NOTES: UCLA's Lucius Allen (academic problems in 1968-69) and St. John's Mel Davis (knee injury in 1972-73) and Texas Western's Bobby Joe Hill (injury and grade problems in 1966-67) did not play full or at all in their senior seasons. . . . Canisius' Larry Fogle, an All-American as a sophomore in 1974 when he led the nation in scoring, entered the NBA draft as a hardship case the next year after failing to earn All-American status again. . . . Illinois' Frank Williams, an All-American as a sophomore in 2000-01, declared for the NBA draft as an undergraduate the next year after failing to to earn All-American status again. . . . Austin Peay's Fly Williams, an All-American as a freshman in 1973 when he led the nation in scoring, entered the ABA draft as an undergraduate the next year after failing to earn All-American status again.