The AAC's all-conference teams and all-rookie team (or, as I like to call them, almost exact replicas of my predictions on Sunday) were released Tuesday morning. Shabazz Napier was a unanimous first-team all-conference pick, while Amida Brimah made the all-rookie team.

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team

Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati *

Shabazz Napier, G, UConn *

Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville

Russ Smith, G, Louisville *

Nic Moore, G, SMU

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team

Isaiah Sykes, G, UCF

Justin Jackson, F, Cincinnati

TaShawn Thomas, F, Houston

Shaq Goodwin, F, Memphis

Joe Jackson, G, Memphis

Markus Kennedy, F, SMU

2014 American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team

Amida Brimah, C, UConn

Terry Rozier, G, Louisville

Austin Nichols, F, Memphis *

John Egbunu, C, USF

Chris Perry, F, USF

The conference’s major individual awards – Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man Award and Sportsmanship Award – will be presented at Wednesday’s awards luncheon at the Gibson Guitar Factory in advance of the first American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship.

Napier could win Player of the Year. Or he may not. Or maybe he'll share it with Kilpatrick and/or Smith. I feel Napier should win at least a share of the award, but Napier himself isn't worrying about it.

“I don’t care. I’m more vested in winning championships," he said. "I’m not into individual awards. I’d rather win a championship.”

When it was pointed out that Kemba Walker didn't win Big East Player of the Year, Napier pointed out, “They gave it to Jimmer (Fredette) that year. Kemba was happy to have a championship that Jimmer doesn’t have. It’s OK.”

He was referring to national Player of the Year, of course. But point well-taken. And, it should be noted, that Ben Hansborough did win Big East Player of the Year over Walker in 2011.

Who would Napier vote for?

“It’s definitely up in the air. I think Sean Kilpatrick definitely played well. But he had a lot of help with Justin Jackson. Russ Smith definitely played well, Nic Moore as well. He definitely turned that team around. Different individuals. The big thing is consistency.”

Kemba Walker was named a first team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). This makes him a consensus All-American, as he also earned the honors from USBWA, Sporting News, AP and the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Here are the NABC All-America teams:

G Kemba Walker – Connecticut
G Nolan Smith – Duke
G Jimmer Fredette – BYU
F/C Jajuan Johnson – Purdue
C Jared Sullinger – Ohio State

Second Team All-Americans
G Ben Hansbrough – Notre Dame
F Kyle Singler – Duke
F Marcus Morris – Kansas
F Derrick Williams – Arizona
F Jordan Hamilton – Texas

Derrick Williams second team? East Coast media bias!

Imagine having the two national collegiate player of the year frontrunners playing in the same backcourt?

Well, it wasn't imaginary this summer, when Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette trained together on a USA Select Team that played for a week against the national team that went on to win the FIBA world championship.

Walker and Fredette got to know each other a little bit while out in Las Vegas, but it's not like they struck up a fast friendship. I asked Walker after Monday's Villanova game if he stays in contact with Fredette during the season as the two are in a race not only for POY honors but for the nation's scoring lead (Fredette recently pulled ahead of Walker), and he said that he doesn't even have Fredette's number.

He's keeping tabs on him, though.

“Of course. He’s on ESPN all the time," Walker said, with a smile. "I get a chance to see him. I’ll think he’ll be the one that keeps it up with the scoring title.”

Fredette recently told ESPN college basketball blogger Diamond Leung that he is paying attention to what Walker is doing, as well. He said he's thinking too much about the national POY chase, but ...

"You know it's out there," Fredette said. "It's something you can't really worry about. We're in conference play, and I'm sure he's worried about trying to get victories and win games."

Here are the 20 finalists for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation's top point guard. Kemba's gotta be the favorite still, but Jimmer is closing the gap pretty fast.


Kevin Anderson Richmond
Norris Cole Cleveland State
Malcolm Delaney Virginia Tech
Corey Fisher Villanova
Jimmer Fredette Brigham Young
DJ Gay San Diego State
Tu Holloway Xavier
Scoop Jardine Syracuse
Brandon Knight Kentucky
Kalin Lucas Michigan State
Demetri McCamey Illinois
Mickey McConnell St. Mary’s College
Jacob Pullen Kansas State
Nolan Smith Duke
Isaiah Thomas Washington
Jordan Taylor Wisconsin
Tyshawn Taylor Kansas
Kemba Walker Connecticut
Casper Ware Long Beach State
Chris Wright Georgetown

The good news for UConn basketball fans is that Roscoe Smith, Tyler Olander, Alex Oriakhi, Shabazz Napier and others are hitting the books at study hall this evening.

The bad new for UConn basketball fans (and reporters) who wanted to see some of the new kids play tonight at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am is that … well, those players are hitting the books at study hall this evening.

Oh well.

We’ll wait around for the second game, in which Vin Baker is supposed to be playing for Simoniz All-Stars.

And here’s an interesting tidbit: also on the Simoniz All-Stars roster is Jimmer Fredette, the high-scoring guard from BYU. Fredette is out in Vegas with Kemba Walker and others, playing against the U.S. national team. But supposedly, he intends on showing up at some point this summer to play in the GHPA. Apparently, it’s the closest NCAA-sanctioned league for the Glens Falls, N.Y. native.