GU’s Wiltjer leads preseason All-America team

The preseason accolades continue to pour in for Gonzaga senior forward Kyle Wiltjer.

Wiltjer received the most votes on the Associated Press preseason All-America team released Monday. The team was voted on by a 65-member national media panel. Wiltjer made the AP third-team last season.

Wiltjer received 51 votes, followed by Iowa State senior Georges Niang (46), Providence junior Kris Dunn (43), Oklahoma senior Buddy Hield (40) and LSU freshman Ben Simmons (27). Seventeen other players received at least one vote, including Gonzaga sophomore forward Domantas Sabonis and BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth.

The 6-foot-10 Wiltjer was previously named to USA Today’s and SI.com’s first-team All-America squads. He was named CBSsports.com’s preseason player of the year. SI.com projected Wiltjer as the favorite for player of the year award.

Wiltjer, who played two seasons at Kentucky before transferring to Gonzaga, averaged a team-high 16.8 points per game last year and made 46.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. He scored in double figures 30 times and poured in 45 points against Pacific, third highest in program history and second highest in an NCAA game last season.

The Portland native scored 33 points in Saturday’s exhibition win over Eastern Oregon.

Sabonis, who took a nasty fall on his lower back against Eastern Oregon, is sore but he’s expected to accompany the team Tuesday as it travels to Okinawa, Japan, for Friday’s meeting with Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Classic.

His availability for the Pitt game won’t be determined until later in the week.