State of Iowa Has Two All-Americans

The Iowa and Iowa State men's basketball programs both had players named to an All-America team. One school had never had it happen before.

Cedar Rapids native Jarrod Uthoff was named to the USBWA (United States Basketball Writers Association) second team. It's the first time an Iowa men's player has been named to the All-America team by USBWA.

Uthoff was also named a second-team All-America by the Sporting News and third team from Scout.com as well as USA Today.

Iowa State Cyclone Georges Niang was also named to the second-team. He becomes the fifth Cyclone to be named a USBWA All-American. Niang is the only player in the country this season to average more than 19 points and six rebounds per game, while also connecting on 80 percent of his free throw attempts and shooting 50 percent from the field.

Both Niang and Uthoff are among the 15 finalists for the Wooden Award for the nation's most outstanding college basketball player. Hopefully, neither of their collegiate careers is anywhere near over. Iowa State opens NCAA tournament play Thursday, while the Hawkeyes open Friday.

Here's the complete first and second-team choices by the USBWA:

First Team

• Buddy Hield/Oklahoma
• Denzel Valentine/Michigan State
• Brice Johnson/North Carolina
• Ben Simmons/LSU
• Malcom Brogdon/Virginia

Second Team

• Georges Niang/Iowa State
• Jarrod Uthoff/Iowa
• Tyler Ulis/Kentucky
• Kris Dunn/Providence
• Jakob Poeltl/Utah

[via Iowa and Iowa State Sports Information and woodenaward.com]