Mike DeCourcy’s Mid-Season All-America Team

Mike DeCourcy proposes a list of mid-season All-America players and his first team is Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga, Dedric Lawson, Kansas, Grant Williams, Tennessee, Cassius Winston, Michigan State and Zion Williamson, Duke.

RJ Barrett is on the second team. This is how DeCourcy justifies that decision: “The fact Barrett and Williamson both produced their most dazzling games against Kentucky is indicative of how unbeatable the Blue Devils were that night, and how much is possible for the Blue Devils. The USBWA hasn’t had two first-team All-Americans from the same school since Jay Williams and Shane Batter for Duke in 2001, and it’s only happened twice since 1985. It’s that hard to do. A team must be overwhelming to pull that off. Duke has been excellent, but let’s see where we are in March before we put these Devils in the same class as that 35-4 Devils NCAA championship team or Kansas’ 35-4 squad in 1997-98 (Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce).“

That’s a reasonable defense of an inane hypothetical: who cares? Ask yourself this: would any of those coaches trade their players for Barrett? We think at least a couple would.