Duncan Unanimous As A-A Pick First Repeater Since Shaq Also Player Of Year

Tim Duncan of Wake Forest was a unanimous selection Monday for the All-America team and became the first repeat choice since Shaquille O’Neal of LSU five years ago.

Duncan, the 6-foot-10 senior center from Wake Forest, was named on all 68 ballots by the national media panel and received 340 points, four more than Keith Van Horn of Utah, who missed being a unanimous choice by two votes.

The other first-team selections were Ron Mercer of Kentucky, Raef LaFrentz of Kansas and Danny Fortson of Cincinnati. Van Horn and Fortson were second-team selections last season.

Duncan was the only one of four underclassmen on last year’s All-America team who opted to return to school. Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, Allen Iverson of Georgetown and Ray Allen of Connecticut all declared for the NBA draft. The other first-team member was senior Kerry Kittles of Villanova.

Duncan led the Demon Deacons to a 23-6 record and a Top-10 ranking all season while averaging 20.9 points and 14.3 rebounds. He shot 61 percent from the field and blocked 94 shots in earning his second straight Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year selection. Duncan, a third-team choice as a sophomore, needs 10 rebounds for a career total of 1,538 - making him college basketball’s most prolific rebounder of the last 25 years.

“I think we can all agree, without any kind of dissent, that he is certainly one of the best to ever play in this league, not only at his position, but at any position,” Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. “I think he has done it with great style and great emotion and great compassion.”

The last unanimous selection was Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994.

The 6-10 Van Horn turned from star player to TV star last week with consecutive buzzer-beaters in the Western Athletic Conference tournament. He averaged 22.2 points and 9.4 rebounds for the Utes, 26-3 and ranked No. 2 entering the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m surely honored,” the three-time WAC player of the year said Monday. “I think it really reflects the effort and success of the team as well as myself. If it wasn’t for my teammates and the people who support me, I wouldn’t be talking about this.”

Mercer, a 6-7 sophomore, who has already announced he will turn pro after the season, was the third-leading vote-getter with 289. The star of last season’s national title game victory averaged 18.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Wildcats (30-4). He was forced to assume a much larger role in the offense when Derek Anderson went down for the year with a knee injury midway through the season.

Like Mercer, LaFrentz, a 6-11 junior, really stepped up when a teammate went down. He scored at least 20 points in each of the nine games center Scot Pollard missed with a stress fracture in his foot.

LaFrentz averaged 18.7 points and 9.1 rebounds and shot 59 percent from the field as the Jayhawks (32-1) held the No. 1 spot for 15 straight weeks.

“I’m fortunate because I am surrounded by an extremely talented, extremely unselfish group of guys who are genuinely excited for me to be named an All-America,” LaFrentz said.

The 6-7 Fortson is one of the strongest players in college basketball and was the Conference USA player of the year the last two seasons. He averaged 21.4 points and 9.2 rebounds.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AP All-Americans Keith Van Horn, Utah Ron Mercer, Kentucky Raef LaFrentz, Kansas Danny Fortson, Cincinnati Player of Year Tim Duncan, Wake Forest