Paige.. AP All American First Team

[bballnut90]

UConn has now had a first team All American for 14 years in a row. This ties the record that Tennessee set from 1988-2001. It looks like next year that UConn will be breaking another Tennessee record.

1st Team or making one of the 3 AP teams? UCONN didn't have a 1st teamer in 2012 or 2013.

 

[bbfanLA]

1st Team or making one of the 3 AP teams? UCONN didn't have a 1st teamer in 2012 or 2013.

Any of the first teams (AP, WBCA, USBWA)

 

[JonathanXIV]

Gotcha...Please see post #21 in this thread.
The ESPN news article on this AP All American Team says "first place"... and so do all the others I found on the Web... but one, the Idaho Statesmen, lists the players "First Place" votes (likely meant to be FIRST TEAM), and total points they received. Paige got the MOST First TEAM Votes and the highest POINT Total.

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/article250004744.html

Thanks for the additional information. Based on this set of voters, the Player of the Year is going to be a contest between Paige and Evans.

 

[TWG236]

Much harder to make the AP First Team AA than the WBC First Team AA. AP chooses 5 players and the WPCA chooses 10 players. So between the two UCONN has had a First Team AA 14 straight years

 

[bluedevil]

I know there are several All American teams..but for me the AP has always been the most prestigious...maybe cause i'm old.....

 

[AmeriConn]

Where is the poster that claimed that because of Hailey Van Lith and Clark, Paige will never be AA

In the witness protection program.

 

[eebmg]

Where is the poster that claimed that because of Hailey Van Lith and Clark, Paige will never be AA

next to the posts where Paige was coming off the bench.

 

[bballnut90]

Thanks for the additional information. Based on this set of voters, the Player of the Year is going to be a contest between Paige and Evans.

Evans is a nice player but I just don't see how she has any argument for NPOY. I feel like the inclusion of her and Collier on such high teams and being in contention for top awards is largely due to hype. Howard and McDonald too, to a degree.

 

[Bald Husky]

Will THIS "Associated Press" selection get her on the wall, or does UConn require a player to be voted an AA by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA)? Biff's post suggests that it does.

This is the hardest one because its only 5 players

 

[GW15MJ4MM23]

Paige would not complain if she won any NPOY awards this season.

Paige knows history remembers the teams that win Championships.
.
"Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody." - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
.
"They will remember Paige" - Geno Auriemma.

.

 

[MilfordHusky]

AP All American does not qualify Paige for the Husky Wall of Honor. Only the WBCA All American Team qualifies a player for the Wall of Honor. I suspect Paige will get the WBCA Award sometime this week.

I believe no women's player has made WBCA All-American 1st team without also making the AP 1st team.

 

[Rb335]

Thanks for the link. Looks like Clark, Dungee and Williams got a combined 6 1st team votes. 2 of the voters must have thought one of them more worthy than Paige. Hard to fathom. Also, how often is the top rated WNBA prospect not on the 1st team. Frankly I wonder if Collier was really deserving of 2nd team.

Agreed. Also, if I were the GM of the Wings, I would be taking Evans with the 1st pick. She is deserving of going #1, and I think she has a higher ceiling than Ty Harris. Jefferson has been plagued with injury as well, so Evans would be a nice upgrade for them at PG. She and Ogunbowale would be a dynamic back-court. Take Collier second to ensure some size and hope Davis is around at 5th to get a solid wing player.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm going by memory here, but Maya made All-American in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I think Bria made it in 2012. Kaleena and Stef made it in 2013. Bria, Stewie, and Stef made it in 2014. Kaleena, Stewie, and Mo made it in 2015. Stewie, Mo, and Tuck made it in 2016.

Edit for completion: Lou and Phee in 2017, Lou in 2018, Lou and Phee in 2019, Megan in 2020.

Also noteworthy: Honorable Mentions in 2020 included Olivia and the future WNBA Rookie of the Year, Crystal Dangerfield.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Thanks for the link. Looks like Clark, Dungee and Williams got a combined 6 1st team votes. 2 of the voters must have thought one of them more worthy than Paige. Hard to fathom. Also, how often is the top rated WNBA prospect not on the 1st team. Frankly I wonder if Collier was really deserving of 2nd team.

I think Collier had a really inferior supporting cast making her job and putting up big numbers consistently a tough assignment.

 

[GW15MJ4MM23]

I'm going by memory here, but Maya made All-American in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I think Bria made it in 2012. Kaleena and Stef made it in 2013. Bria, Stewie, and Stef made it in 2014. Kaleena, Stewie, and Mo made it in 2015. Stewie, Mo, and Tuck made it in 2016.

Edit for completion: Lou and Phee in 2017, Lou in 2018, Lou and Phee in 2019, Megan in 2020.

Also noteworthy: Honorable Mentions in 2020 included Olivia and the future WNBA Rookie of the Year, Crystal Dangerfield.

.
Gabulous Williams in 2017 and 2018
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Full Lists on pages 71 and 72 of UConn WBB Media Guide for 2020-21.
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2021 Media Guide (PDF) - University of Connecticut Athletics
.

 

[BobbyJ]

I believe no women's player has made WBCA All-American 1st team without also making the AP 1st team.

There's no differentiation between 1st and 2nd team for the WBCA. It's just a 10 member team. It's how Tuck became eligible for the wall. But it would be very unusual for a kid to make AP 1st team and not make the WBCA team.

 

[bbfanLA]

There's no differentiation between 1st and 2nd team for the WBCA. It's just a 10 member team. It's how Tuck became eligible for the wall. But it would be very unusual for a kid to make AP 1st team and not make the WBCA team.

While it’s rare, it does happen occasionally. Last year, Rhyne Howard made the AP first team but not the WBCA. I believe the last time before that was in 2016 when Rachel Banham made the AP first team but didn’t make the WBCA team.

 

[my2cents]

To say that she is special, is an understatement.

 

[bbsamjj]

From a shooting perspective, this was McDonald's worst year stats wise at AZ. That being said, she was again the conference defensive player of the year, so she is an excellent two-way player. I do think her inclusion though has more to do with hype (she was a preseason 1st team AA) over substance.

 

[DEpup]

You are correct @eebmg , BUT, the article does say... she "received 28 first-place votes from the national panel of 30 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll." This means no one not named "Paige" got more than 2 "first place" votes from the 30 media members. This makes Paige's selection that much more impressive...bodes well for NPOY selection as well.

Well Done!!!

Hmm. Can we lay money down that 1 of the 2 votes was Antonelli???

 

[Vowelguy]

Hmm. Can we lay money down that 1 of the 2 votes was Antonelli???

Does it matter?

 

[Carnac]

Agreed. Also, if I were the GM of the Wings, I would be taking Evans with the 1st pick. She is deserving of going #1, and I think she has a higher ceiling than Ty Harris. Jefferson has been plagued with injury as well, so Evans would be a nice upgrade for them at PG. She and Ogunbowale would be a dynamic back-court. Take Collier second to ensure some size and hope Davis is around at 5th to get a solid wing player.

You’re saying the exact same thing I did in a previous post about Collier being the prohibitive number 1 draft pick next month. I’d take Evans before her too. Evans doesn’t shrink in big games.

 

[Childhood]

You’re saying the exact same thing I did in a previous post about Collier being the prohibitive number 1 draft pick next month. I’d take Evans before her too. Evans doesn’t shrink in big games.

No. Evans is playing well in regular season games but has a poor performance in the conference tournament

 

[Go/huskies]

Evans is a nice player but I just don't see how she has any argument for NPOY. I feel like the inclusion of her and Collier on such high teams and being in contention for top awards is largely due to hype. Howard and McDonald too, to a degree.

Paige should be POY, but I wouldn’t be totally mad if they gave the award to Evans, I mean going from missing out on ACC FOY to being 6th Man of the year to NPOY would be really persevering, now days most kids ranked pretty high coming out of high school would have transferred if they aren’t named a starter early in there college career.

 

[Boreifs]

Matches M. Moore as quickest ever to qualify for the Wall. She really is a Bucket.

Not yet. The WBCA is used for the wall.

 

[PJCLaw]

AP All American does not qualify Paige for the Husky Wall of Honor. Only the WBCA All American Team qualifies a player for the Wall of Honor. I suspect Paige will get the WBCA Award sometime this week.

You are so incorrect. The criteria is FIRST team AA, which the AP team is. In fact, to me, it is more prestigious to be named an AP First Team AA because it only has 5 members, thus, more competitive to get on than the 10 member WBCA AA team!!

 

[maccca3232]

There's no differentiation between 1st and 2nd team for the WBCA. It's just a 10 member team. It's how Tuck became eligible for the wall. But it would be very unusual for a kid to make AP 1st team and not make the WBCA team.

While it’s rare, it does happen occasionally. Last year, Rhyne Howard made the AP first team but not the WBCA. I believe the last time before that was in 2016 when Rachel Banham made the AP first team but didn’t make the WBCA team.

My post from last year regarding Megan Walker.

Updated for this season.

Since the inception of the WOMEN’S AP ALL-AMERICA TEAM LIST for 1994-95 season there have been 130 players named 1st Team and perhaps surprisingly 8 of those players weren't also named WBCA All-Americans the same season.

Year Player
1995-96 Kara Wolters
1995-96 Latasha Byears
1998-99 Dominique Canty
1999-00 Ruth Riley
2010-11 Jeanette Pohlen
2015-16 Rachel Banham
2016-17 Brionna Jones
2019-20 Rhyne Howard

 

[UcMiami]

Lot of candidates for AA and two completely different selection committees, so it is understandable for a few instances over the years.

 

[bballnut90]

Paige should be POY, but I wouldn’t be totally mad if they gave the award to Evans, I mean going from missing out on ACC FOY to being 6th Man of the year to NPOY would be really persevering, now days most kids ranked pretty high coming out of high school would have transferred if they aren’t named a starter early in there college career.

It's a nice story and I'm sure she's a great kid, but she hasn't had a NPOY season. 20 points, 4 assists on 43% shooting for the 8th ranked team in the country isn't POY worthy, especially since you have players like Bueckers, Smith and Owusu whove had superior seasons IMO. Not to mention Clark/Hillmon.

 

[Sched234]

A few topics stemming from this thread and others that we need to clear up:

• Paige has been the best player in the country this year and it’s not been particularly close. Any NPOY award for which she is eligible but does not win is a travesty.
• Aliyah Boston is ever-so-slightly better than Elissa Cunane and that is why they are on the first and second team, respectively. They are the two top centers in the country so there aren’t really any losers here, but Twitter is abound with rage over Cunane’s second-team nod.
• Dana Evans has been incredible but I just don’t think she had a better season than Paige.
• NaLyssa Smith absolutely deserved this honor after a monster season for Baylor that, frankly, was largely unrecognized and disrespected (by media, not by the BYers).
• I’m fine with CW and ONO getting AA HM, whatever, but I don’t know how any of you truly think either deserved a spot on one of the teams.
• Cece Hooks of the MAC was recognized but Micaela Kelly was not, which is ridiculous, especially after Kelly outplayed her in the MAC tournament.
• McDonald’s inclusion is probably in part due to her outstanding defense. I agree her offensive numbers do not warrant the nod.