WICHITA, Kan. – Junior guard Tekele Cotton received a postseason award on Monday while senior forward Cleanthony Early and sophomore guard Fred VanVleet received postseason awards on Tuesday.
Cotton was named to the 2014 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team/2014 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award Finalist on Monday, Early was named Associated Press (AP) Third Team All-America on Tuesday, and VanVleet was named an AP Honorable Mention All-America on Tuesday as well. VanVleet also received one AP first-team All-America vote.
Tuesday's award marks Cotton's third postseason award. He was previously named to the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) All-Second Team and the 2014 MVC All-Defensive Team.
This is now Early's ninth postseason award. He previously earned a spot on the 2014 MVC All-First Team, was named a 2014 Oscar Robertson Trophy Finalist, was one of 15 finalists for the 2014 John R. Wooden Award and was named to the 2013-14 United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District VI All-District team.
Early was later named to the 2013-14 NABC Division 16 All-First Team, a USBWA Second Team All-America, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I All-America Second Team and was named to the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team on Monday.
With Tuesday's award, VanVleet earned his tenth postseason award. He was previously named to the 2014 MVC All-First Team, the 2014 MVC All-Defensive Team, the 2014 MVC Most-Improved Team as the Team Captain, and was named the 2014 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year.
VanVleet was also named to the Sporting News All-America Third Team, the USBWA District VI All-District Team, the NABC Division 16 All-First Team, is a 2014 Bob Cousy Award finalist and was named to the NABC Division I All-America Third Team.
2014 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team/2014 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Finalists
Cameron Ayers (Bucknell)
Khem Birch (UNLV)
Alec Brown (Green Bay)
Rhamel Brown (Manhattan)
Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
Tekele Cotton (Wichita State)
Aaron Craft (Ohio State)
Scott Eatherton (Northeastern)
Joel Embiid (Kansas)
Justin Jackson (Cincinnati)
Jordair Jett (Saint Louis)
Nick Johnson (Arizona)
Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Hampton)
K.J. McDaniels (Clemson)
Daniel Miller (Georgia Tech)
Chris Obekpa (St. John's)
Elfrid Payton (Louisiana at Lafayette)
Trevor Releford (Alabama)
Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State)
Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Corey Walden (Eastern Kentucky)
Scottie Wilbekin (Florida)
Kendall Williams (New Mexico)
Briante Weber (VCU)
Patric Young (Florida)
AP All-America Third Team:
Kyle Anderson (UCLA)
Cleanthony Early, (Wichita State)
C.J. Fair (Syracuse)
Julius Randle (Kentucky)
Scottie Wilbekin (Florida)
AP All-America Honorable Mention:
Karvel Anderson (Robert Morris)
Cameron Ayers (Bucknell)
Cameron Bairstow (New Mexico)
Billy Baron, Canisius;
Jerrelle Benimon, Towson;
Taylor Braun, North Dakota State;
De'Mon Brooks (Davidson)
John Brown (High Point)
Bryce Cotton (Providence)
Joel Embiid (Kansas)
Tyler Ennis (Syracuse)
Aaron Gordon (Arizona)
Langston Hall (Mercer)
Gary Harris (Michigan State)
Tyler Haws (BYU)
R.J. Hunter (Georgia State)
Jordair Jett (Saint Louis)
Shawn Jones (Middle Tennessee)
DeAndre Kane (Iowa State )(1 first-team vote)
J.J. Mann (Belmont)
Javon McCrea (Buffalo)
Daniel Mullings, (New Mexico State)
Aaric Murray (Texas Southern)
Marcus Paige (North Carolina)
Jacob Parker (Stephen F. Austin)
Lamar Patterson (Pittsburgh)
Adreian Payne (Michigan State (1));
Casey Prather (Florida)
Wesley Saunders (Harvard)
Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State (1)).
Juwan Staten (West Virginia)
Keifer Sykes (Green Bay)
Xavier Thames (San Diego State)
Fred VanVleet (Wichita State (1));
Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Davion Weber (Weber State)
Alan Williams (UC Santa Barbara)
Pendarvis Williams (Norfolk State)
Patric Young (Florida)
-WICHITA STATE-
About the Lefty Driesell Award
The Lefty Driesell award is named in honor of coaching legend Lefty Driesell, who is the only person to ever win 100 games at four different Division I schools. He is best known for his time at Maryland, leading the program to the National Invitational Tournament title in 1972 and its second-ever ACC Tournament Championship in 1984. He finished his career at Maryland with a 348-159 record and concluded his career with an impressive 786-394 mark.
