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Sports News Midseason All-America Team
Sports News Midseason College Basketball All-American Teams
first team
Joni Bloom (Auburn)
6-10, 240 lbs., Senior, C
Key stats: 17.9 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.7 bpg, .547 FG
Decisive game: 23 points, 11 rebounds, 10-of-15 shooting in 87-69 win over Purdue.
Summary: If you think waiting for Bloom to recover from his ankle injury is frustrating, imagine how he feels. This is the moment he’s been preparing for his whole life. Three years ago, he was a talented big man on a Morehead State team that reached the Ohio Valley finals but missed out on advancing to the NCAAs. And this fall, he quickly established himself as one of the best players in college basketball, until his dream season was cut short by an injury. Auburn was fine without him, but this is his moment. He had to put in more minutes to lose his spot on this team. Coach Bruce Pearl suggests that’s not a problem.
Cooper Flagg, Duke
6-9, 205, Fr., P.F.
Key Stats: 19.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.2 bpg, 1.6 spg .488 FG, .348 3-PT
Decisive game: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks in an 84-77 win against Auburn.
Overview: Flagg is one of the most complete players in college basketball, even as a freshman. That’s not particularly surprising. Because he’s the most complete American player likely to leave high school basketball in the next 20 years or so. Flagg knows he can have a big impact on a game without scoring, and that’s pretty much how his freshman season started. Now, he’s starting to find comfort shooting from deep and is also putting up big point totals. Since Christmas, he is hitting .545 on 3-point shooting and averaging 25 points.
Courtesy: Beyond Points and See How Good Cooper Flagg Is
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
6-3, 191, Junior, SG
Key Stats: 22.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, .494 FG, .404 3-PT
Decisive game: 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 11-of-14 shooting in a 68-64 win over North Texas.
Summary: If someone doesn’t mention Haggerty when discussing the best transfer portal additions for the 2024-25 season, you know they aren’t paying close attention. Haggerty has been a revelation for the Tigers since his first day in uniform, recording 25 points, six rebounds and five assists in an 83-75 win over Missouri State. He scored a lot of goals for Tulsa last season, but the team only went 16-15. Someone has to score. This varies greatly. Memphis has played like one of the top 20 teams in college hoops since the beginning, and Haggerty has done that against many teams from the school. He is averaging 21.3 points against strong teams such as Auburn, UW, and Michigan State. The Tigers won 6-2 against that group.
Cam Jones, Market
6-5, 200, Senior, PG
Key stats: 19.1 ppg, 6.9 apg, 4.7 rpg, 1.7 spg, .491 FG
Decisive game: 32 points, six assists, four steals in 88-74 win over Wisconsin.
Summary: Jones is exactly where we expected him to be at the beginning of the season. However, no one really expected him to rank among the top players in the country while serving as a full-time point guard. Jones excelled during his off-ball play, with Tyler Kolek running Marquette’s offense. It was risky to keep Jones away from a place where he had a good chance of being elite. Jones never lost sight of the importance of scoring and ran the offense so well that the Golden Eagles ranked among the best teams in the nation. His 3-point percentage has declined, in part because he takes harder shots when the shot clock gets in the way. But he can still get hot from deep inside.
Mark Sears, Alabama
6-1, 191, Sr., G
Key stats: 18.9 ppg, 4.8 apg, 1.1 spg, 3.1 apg
Decisive game: 24 points, 9 assists, 1 turnover, 38 minutes, 8-of-9 free throw shooting in 102-97 win against Kentucky.
Summary: If you want to understand how important Sears is to the University of Alabama, perhaps the best place to look is at his stat line under “Minutes.” He averages 33 points per game, and 34 points against major league opponents. Sears isn’t very good at shooting from long range. He dropped from .436 to .351. Sears has adapted to a variety of backcourt partners and always plays multiple roles. He can be a playmaker (10 assists against Oklahoma, 9 assists against Kentucky) or a scorer (27 assists each against Texas A&M and Creighton).
second team
Lamont Butler, Kentucky
6-2, 208, Sr., PG
Key stats: 13.6 ppg, 4.9 apg, 1.8 spg, .396 3-PT
Overview: Butler is the only player on Kentucky’s roster left in the Final Four that everyone in the Big Blue Nation wants to return to. He led San Diego State’s offense in the 2023 Final Four, but even with that background, he wasn’t expected to carry such a heavy burden on such a deep Wildcats team. I didn’t. He started the season more or less alternating with veteran Kerr Kriesa, but Kriesa’s injury left Butler in charge and commanding the team’s various weapons. He is averaging 14.4 points and 6.8 assists in SEC play. His deep shooting was a pleasant surprise. Butler’s best percentage last season was 34.2 in the Final Four.
Curtis Jones, Iowa
6-4, 195, Senior, Singapore
Key Stats: 17.8 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.5 apg, 1.7 spg, .472 FG, .402 3-PT
Overview: The Cyclones have five regulars scoring in double digits with an offense that can flow in many different directions. But it always makes sense to make sure to give Jones a chance. He is one of only two players at Iowa State to make 15 or more 3-pointers. They need sharpness from him, but he only had one game against a major league opponent in which he didn’t hit multiple threes. Once Big 12 play began, he scored 19 points or more in five of Iowa State’s first six games.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Clayton
7-1, 270, Senior, C
Key stats: 17.7 ppg, 8.4 pg, 2.9 bpg, .654 FG
Overview: Remember when Creighton was known for throwing threes and trying to outscore every team that shared the court with the Blue Jays? Yes, that was before Kalkbrenner wore the uniform It was. He has built this into an elite defensive team that reached the Elite Eight in 2023 and the Sweet 16 last season, fighting off a rocky start for another run in March. He is elite at guarding the pick-and-roll and protecting the rim, and has developed a great touch from long range.
Javon Small, West Virginia
6-3, 190, Senior, PG
Key stats: 19.8 ppg, 5.2 RPG, 5.2 apg, 1.9 spg
Overview: Judging by the two rings Tristen Newton won at UConn and Small’s brilliance earlier this season with the Mountaineers, if I were a college coach looking for a dazzling guard in the transfer portal, I’d consider: You may want someone like this. “East Carolina” is on his resume. (No offense, Mr. Pirate). Small took a detour from ECU through OK State en route to Morgantown, but he averaged more than 15 points in each of the past two years. But there was nothing to suggest he would rank among the Big 12’s best guards. Small filled every category with big numbers, and WVU bounced back nicely from an embarrassing early-season loss at Pitt.
braeden smith, purdue
6-1, 191, Sr., G
Key statistics: 15.1 annual average consumption, 8.9 annual average consumption, 1.1 annual average electricity consumption, 3.1 annual average electricity consumption
Summary: You don’t have to be a fan of Smith’s burgeoning beard to see the beauty of his command of the Purdue offense. He has been outstanding since joining Purdue’s lineup as a .190 player in the 2022 high school freshman class and leading the Boilers to two Big Ten championships. Last year, his ability to put superstar Zach Eady in advantageous positions helped them advance to the NCAA Championship Game and their first Final Four appearance since 1980. Remarkably, he’s now even more of a complete offensive player.
third team
Walter Clayton, Senior Guard, Florida State
Graham Icke, Senior Center, Gonzaga State
Kasparas Jaksionis, freshman guard, Illinois State
Chaz Lanier, senior guard, Tennessee
Kadary Richmond, St. John’s senior guard
