Davidson junior guard Stephen Curry has been named to the Associated Press All-America Team. After earning second-team honors in 2008, Curry became the first Southern Conference player to garner first team accolades since Davidson’s Fred Hetzel in 1965 with this year’s selection.
Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair and Arizona State’s James Harden also were named to the first team.
Griffin, who averaged 21 points and 14.3 rebounds while shooting 63.5 percent from the field received 71 first-team votes and 335 points from the same national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Balloting was done before the NCAA tournament.
Hansbrough, a unanimous pick last season along with Kansas State's Michael Beasley, got 50 first-team votes and 304 points. This is the fourth straight season the 6-foot-9 forward received All-America recognition. He was a third-team pick as a freshman and was on the second team after his sophomore season.
Blair is Pittsburgh's second first-teamer, joining Don Hennon in 1958. Curry, who led the nation in scoring, is Davidson's second as well, joining Hetzel in 1965. Harden is Arizona State's first AP All-America.
Curry became an overnight star in Davidson's run to the round of eight last season, and he backed it up with a junior season that saw him lead the country in scoring while making the transition to point guard.
He averaged 28.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists as the Wildcats won the Southern Conference regular season title but lost in the tournament and didn't make the NCAA field.
"It was difficult to go from being a scoring threat to someone who creates for others, but my teammates helped me in my transition and made my job easier," said Curry, who received 288 points. "It was a tough challenge, but I met it head on and worked hard to be the best point guard I could be."
Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet led the second team with 238 points and was joined by three other juniors, Ty Lawson of North Carolina, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame and Jodie Meeks of Kentucky, along with senior Jerel McNeal of Marquette.
The third team had seniors Terrence Williams of Louisville, Toney Douglas of Florida State and Sam Young of Pittsburgh, along with juniors Sherron Collins of Kansas and Gerald Henderson of Duke.