ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1997 TAG: 9703110108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wake Forest center Tim Duncan again is an All American and, this time, there's more than one senior on the first team.
Tim Duncan of Wake Forest was a unanimous selection Monday for the All-America team and became the first repeat choice since Shaquille O'Neal of LSU five years ago.
Duncan, the 6-foot-10 senior center from Wake Forest, was named on all 68 ballots by the national media panel and received 340 points, four more than Keith Van Horn of Utah, who missed being a unanimous choice by two votes.
The other first-team selections were Ron Mercer of Kentucky, Raef LaFrentz of Kansas and Danny Fortson of Cincinnati.
Van Horn and Fortson were both second-team selections last season.
Duncan led the Demon Deacons to a 23-6 record and a Top 10 ranking all season while averaging 20.9 points and 14.3 rebounds. He shot 61 percent from the field and blocked 94 shots in earning his second straight Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year selection. A third-team choice as a sophomore, Duncan needs 10 rebounds for a career total of 1,538 - making him college basketball's most prolific rebounder over the last 25 years.
``I think we can all agree, without any kind of dissent, that he is certainly one of the best to ever play in this league, not only at his position, but at any position,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. ``I think he has done it with great style and great emotion and great compassion.''
The last unanimous selection was Purdue's Glenn Robinson in 1994.
The 6-10 Van Horn turned from star player to TV star last week with his consecutive buzzer-beaters in the Western Athletic Conference tournament. He averaged 22.2 points and 9.4 rebounds for the Utes, who enter the NCAA tournament with a 26-3 record and a No.2 ranking.
``I'm surely honored,'' the three-time WAC player of the year said. ``I think it really reflects the effort and success of the team as well as myself. If it wasn't for my teammates and the people who support me, I wouldn't be talking about this.''
Mercer, a 6-7 sophomore who has already announced he will turn pro after the season, was the third-leading vote-getter with 289. The star of last season's national title game victory averaged 18.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Wildcats (30-4). He was forced to assume a much larger role in the offense when Derek Anderson went down for the year with a knee injury midway through the season.
Like Mercer, LaFrentz, a 6-11 junior, stepped up when a teammate went down. He scored at least 20 points in each of the nine games center Scot Pollard missed with a stress fracture in his foot, tripling the longest string of a player to score at least that many points a game under coach Roy Williams.
LaFrentz, who received 266 points, averaged 18.7 points and 9.1 rebounds and shot 59 percent from the field as the Jayhawks (32-1) held the No.1 spot for 15 straight weeks.
The 6-7 Fortson is one of the strongest players in college basketball and he was the Conference USA player of the year the last two seasons. He averaged 21.4 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Bearcats (25-7).
``Danny has worked so hard to make himself one of the best players in the country,'' Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said. ``Everyone notices his size and physical strength but I don't think there's a player who plays with as much heart.''
Senior point guards Brevin Knight of Stanford and Jacque Vaughn of Kansas were on the second team along with sophomore forward Antawn Jamison of North Carolina, sophomore guard Chauncey Billups of Colorado and senior guard Bobby Jackson of Minnesota.
Seniors Shea Seals of Tulsa, Ed Gray of California, Keith Booth of Maryland and Andre Woolridge of Iowa were joined on the third team by Colgate's junior center Adonal Foyle, who said he will apply for the NBA draft.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Wake Forest center Tim Duncan (21)by CNBlikely will become the most prolific rebounder of the past 25 years
during the upcoming NCAA tournament. On Monday, he was named a
first-team AP All American. color.