Fair and Balanced: Creighton's McDermott is Latest Great White Hope
February is Black History Month, but shouldn't we be fair and balanced to fully embrace political correctness? Amid running the risk of being portrayed akin to Al Campanis when discussing race issues, CollegeHoopedia.com has conducted extensive research on trailblazing African-Americans who broke the color barrier at current NCAA Division I schools. In order to not be onesided, it's time to assess the racial overtones of college basketball through the current minority prism of the white player.
According to a politically-direct UCF study several years ago, fewer than 1/3 of NCAA Division I players are white. There is some credence to refraining from judging a book by its cover, but the last time a majority of the NCAA consensus All-American first-team selections were white was 1969-70 (LSU's Pete Maravich, Purdue's Rick Mount and Kentucky's Dan Issel).
Creighton's Doug McDermott could become the first mid-major player to be a two-time NCAA consensus first-team All-American since UNLV's Larry Johnson in 1989-90 and 1990-91. Non-whites accounted for more than 83% of the NCAA consensus All-American first- and second-selections since the shot clock was introduced nationwide in 1985-86. Alarmists might beg to differ, but the white American player hasn't exactly slipped into extinction. This isn't boxing, but McDermott is clearly the latest "Great White Hope" along with Indiana sophomore center Cody Zeller, the younger brother of North Carolina center Tyler Zeller, a second-team All-American last season as a senior, and vastly-improved Gonzaga redshirt center Kelly Olynyk.
Celebrating White History Moments, the last all-white NCAA consensus first-team All-American squad was in 1953-54. McDermott is bound to become only the sixth white player in the last 30 seasons to emerge as a multiple-year consensus first-team All-American. Even if McDermott doesn't return for a senior season, he and his father could be the top dad-son, coach-player combination in NCAA history other than the Maravichs at LSU. Following is an alphabetical list of only 19 different white players in that time span named as an NCAA consensus first-team All-American:
White First-Team All-American Pos. School A-A Season(s) Steve Alford G Indiana 1985-86 and 1986-87 Andrew Bogut C Utah 2004-05 Nick Collison F Kansas 2002-03 Dan Dickau G Gonzaga 2001-02 Danny Ferry F Duke 1988-89 Jimmer Fredette G Brigham Young 2010-11 Tyler Hansbrough F-C North Carolina 2006-07 through 2008-09 Bobby Hurley G Duke 1992-93 Casey Jacobsen F-G Stanford 2000-01 Christian Laettner F-C Duke 1991-92 Raef LaFrentz F-C Kansas 1996-97 and 1997-98 Kevin Love C UCLA 2007-08 Doug McDermott F Creighton 2011-12 Chris Mihm C Texas 1999-2000 Adam Morrison F Gonzaga 2005-06 Chris Mullin G St. John's 1984-85 Troy Murphy F Notre Dame 1999-2000 and 2000-01 J.J. Redick G Duke 2004-05 and 2005-06 Keith Van Horn F Utah 1996-97