WICHITA, Kan. – Sophomore point guard Fred VanVleet was named to the Sporting News All-America Third Team, the Sporting News announced on Monday. This is VanVleet's fifth postseason honor. He had already been named to the 2014 MVC All-First Team, the 2014 All-Defensive Team, 2014 MVC Most-Improved Team and the 2014 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year. VanVleet averages 12.1 points per game and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 45% from three.
On a balanced team featuring several players who might have been honored here—forward Cleanthony Early, guard Ron Baker—VanVleet was the engine driving the Shockers' perfection. When they came closest to the edge, in a 3-point overtime road win against Missouri State in mid-January, they turned the ball over to VanVleet and got out of his way.
He scored 12 of the team's final 13 points to secure that win, then spent the rest of the year assuring WSU would not have to sweat like that again. His contributions alternated from 22 points in the Missouri Valley title game against Indiana State to eight assists and five steals on the road at Evansville. Van Vleet joined UNLV's Greg Anthony, Indiana's Quinn Buckner, Indiana State's Steve Reed and Rutgers' Eddie Jordan as the most recent point guards to guide their teams into the NCAA Tournament undefeated.
For the complete list of Sporting News All-Americans, view the slideshow above.
-WICHITA STATE-
