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Duke's Cooper Flagg, UNC's RJ Davis Headline 2024 AP Preseason MCBB All-American Team

Doric SamOctober 21, 2024

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 19: Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils dribbles up court against the Lincoln Lions during the first half of an exhibition game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Lance King/Getty Images

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg has yet to play his first official college basketball game, but he continues to add to his growing list of accolades.

Flagg was named to the Associated Press preseason All-America men's basketball team on Monday, joining an experienced group that also includes North Carolina's RJ Davis, Alabama's Mark Sears, Kansas' Hunter Dickinson, Auburn's Johni Broome and Arizona's Caleb Love.

Flagg tied for the final spot with Love after both of them received the same amount of votes from a 55-person national media panel, making the preseason All-America team a six-man squad.

Flagg is the only underclassman on the team, and he has a ton of hype to live up to in his first year with the Blue Devils. He was the National Gatorade Men's Player of the Year as a senior, and he was a member of the USA select team that practiced with Team USA in preparation for the Paris Olympics over the summer. He's expected to be in the conversation for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Davis is back for his fifth season at UNC after being named ACC Player of the Year last season with averages of 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has a chance to break Tar Heels legend Tyler Hansbrough's ACC scoring record this season.

"I know there's more work to be done," Davis told the Associated Press. "I know my jersey's not going up until I leave. So there's some more records to break and some more work to be done. I'm satisfied but I'm not satisfied, if that makes sense."

Sears was a near-unanimous selection with 54 out of 55 votes from the national media panel. He averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists last season on his way to earning second-team AP All-American honors.

Broome, Sears' SEC rival, wasn't too far behind, being named a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55 percent from the field.

Dickinson and Love were the two transfer players to have their biggest impacts on their respective new teams, and they both chose to return for another year. Dickinson, who left Michigan to join Kansas, averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds. Love, who transferred to Arizona from UNC, was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and a third-team All-American with averages of 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.