Gonzaga, Baylor dominate All-America teams
Gonzaga and Baylor spent almost the entire season holding down the top two spots in the Top 25.
Makes sense they’d hold down a bunch of spots on The Associated Press All-America teams.
The Bulldogs’ Corey Kispert and the Bears’ Jared Butler led the way with firstteam nods Tuesday from the national panel of 63 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll.
They were joined by unanimous pick Luka Garza of Iowa, a two-time selection, along with Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.
Kispert and Butler had plenty of company, though.
The Bulldogs also landed big man Drew Timme and freshman sensation Jalen Suggs on the second team while Joel Ayayi was an honorable mention pick. The Bears had Davion Mitchell on the third team and Middletown native MaCio Teague as an honorable mention.
“Thinking about me as a freshman coming to Baylor and not knowing what I’m getting myself into, having no expectations for how well I’m going to be or how good I’m going to be — it means a lot to come full circle,“said Butler, the Big 12 player of the year and a third-team All-American last season.
It is the first time Baylor, which earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, has had a first-team All-American.
6 officials out of NCAA tournament after 1 tests positive
Six officials won’t be working the NCAA Tournament because one tested positive for COVID-19 and five others were deemed close contacts after arriving in Indianapolis.
NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt confirmed the details Tuesday. CBS Sports first reported that the officials received permission to leave for dinner together when their rooms weren’t ready and no food was available as they arrived at their hotel.
They later returned to the hotel and one of the officials tested positive. The amount of time they would have to quarantine meant they wouldn’t be available for the entirety of the tournament, which begins Thursday with four games before 16 more on Friday.
“Everyone’s responsibility is to make their own decisions to be safe and healthy and ready to participate,“
Gavitt said. “This is a virus we don’t control. It controls us. Not just from an event standpoint but an individual standpoint, we try to put safeguards in place to protect everyone’s health and safety and the integrity of the event, but it can’t be perfect. It’s not going to ever be perfect in a pandemic.”
Gavitt didn’t name the six officials who were removed. He expressed confidence their removals wouldn’t dilute the quality of officiating.