ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611140027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE WAKE FOREST STAR is a unanimous pick for the men's All-America basketball team.
Four members of last year's preseason All-America college basketball team went on to earn the same honor in the postseason. Tim Duncan has to be hoping that trend continues.
The 6-foot-10 senior center from Wake Forest was one of those four players recognized last season, and on Wednesday he was the only unanimous choice for this year's Associated Press preseason team.
Duncan, the leading vote-getter on last year's preseason team, averaged 19.1 points and 12.3 rebounds as a junior. He was named on all 68 ballots by a nationwide media panel.
Joining him on the preseason All-America team were Utah forward Keith Van Horn, who was named on 63 ballots, Cincinnati forward Danny Fortson (60), Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn (47) and Stanford guard Brevin Knight (43).
Three other players from last year's preseason team also went on to receive postseason honors - Kerry Kittles of Villanova, Ray Allen of Connecticut and Marcus Camby of Massachusetts. Oklahoma's Ryan Minor was selected to last year's preseason team, but Allen Iverson of Georgetown was the fifth member of the All-America team.
Duncan averaged 3.8 blocks last season as the Demon Deacons went 26-6 and won the Atlantic Coast Conference title for the second straight year. Four starters return from the team that came within one victory of the Final Four, and Duncan's decision to hold off on the NBA was met with nothing but cheers on the Wake Forest campus.
``I never thought he was leaving,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. ``He was looking for reasons to sustain what he wanted to do anyway. Where the reverse of that is usually true, most of them want to leave, they see the money so they look for reasons to sustain that.
``He wanted to stay, in my opinion, and he looked for all the reasons to justify that and it was easy to find them.''
Van Horn was considered a lottery pick if he decided to leave early after averaging 21.4 points and 8.8 rebounds as a junior, but he, too, chose to return.
Fortson, who averaged 20.1 points and 9.6 rebounds last season as a sophomore when the Bearcats fell one victory shy of the Final Four, is the lone underclassmen on the preseason team.
He is one of three starters back for top-ranked Cincinnati.
Vaughn, who averaged 11 points and 6.6 assists as a junior last season in leading the Jayhawks to 29 victories, tore ligaments in his right wrist in a pickup game in September.
He had surgery and isn't expected to return until conference play begins in January.
Knight, one of the quickest guards in the country, averaged 15.5 points and 7.3 assists last season and capped the year with 27 points and nine assists in the Cardinal's second-round NCAA loss to Massachusetts.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Duncan, Van Horn. color.by CNB