Kansas freshmen Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins were named to the 2014 U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Freshman All-America Team, the organization announced Monday.
The 2014 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Embiid broke the KU freshman record for blocked shots with 72 and his 2.6 blocked shots per game finished out the conference slate ranked second in the league. Named to the 2014 All-Big 12 Second Team, the 7-0 Yaoundé, Cameroon, center leads KU with 8.1 rebounds per game. Embiid is shooting 62.6 percent from the field and averages 11.2 points per game. Additionally, Embiid is one of 30 listed as a Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Award candidate.
Embiid was a two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week – Dec. 2, 2013 and Jan. 20, 2014 – and was named Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week and CBSSports.com National Player of the Week on Jan. 21, 2014 after averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds to go along with 13 blocked shots in KU victories against then-top-10 opponents Iowa State (1/13) and Oklahoma State (1/18). Included was a KU freshman-record eight blocked shots against OSU.
Wiggins scored a Kansas freshman record 41 points at West Virginia in KU’s regular-season finale on March 8 and added 30 points in KU’s overtime victory against Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship, March 13. He would later be named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team, which included a 22-point effort against Iowa State in the semifinals on March 14.
Wiggins, from Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, leads Kansas with a 17.4 scoring average, the best among Big 12 freshmen and fifth overall in the NCAA’s No. 1 RPI conference. Wiggins has made 43 threes this season and is the team leader with 40 steals. Wiggins’ 6.0 rebound average is third on the team. A gifted shooter, Wiggins also ranked among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (12th at 44.9) and free throw percentage (10th at 76.8) during his rookie campaign.
KU’s first Big 12 Freshman of the Year since the 2006 season, Wiggins was also a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection. He picked up various accolades throughout the year, including Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on three different occasions and was the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week on Jan. 28. Additionally, he is on most every national player and freshman of the year ballot.
Joining Embiid and Wiggins on the five-member 2014 USBWA Freshman All-America Team are Tyler Ennis (Syracuse), Jabari Parker (Duke) and Julius Randle (Kentucky). Parker was named the Wayman Tisdale Award recipient for national freshman of the year by the USBWA.
Kansas (24-9) is the No. 2 seed in the south region of the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 15 seed Eastern Kentucky (24-9) on Friday, March 21, at 3:10 p.m. (Central) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
— KU Sports Information —