Marquette point guard Tyler Kolek named an AP All-American
Tyler Kolek has gone from little-known addition for the Marquette men's basketball team to an All-American.
The 6-foot-3 guard was named to the Associated Press' All-American third team on Tuesday, the week after earning Big East player of the year.
Kolek was one of the first players Shaka Smart called when he was hired as MU's coach two years ago. Kolek was the Atlantic 10 newcomer of the year as a freshman at George Mason, but he barely made the list of ESPN's top 100 transfers.
Kolek was an immediate starter for Smart and led the Big East in assists last season. This season, he added more scoring to his game and he has averaged 13.3 points per game on 48.3% shooting. His 7.9 assists per game and 3.37 assist-to-turnover ratio both rank in the top five in the country.
Thanks in large part to Kolek, the Golden Eagles (28-6) boast one of the most efficient offenses in the country and won both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles. MU earned a No. 2 seeding in the NCAA Tournament and will play 15th-seeded Vermont on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
The AP's All-American first team is composed of Purdue's Zach Edey, Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kansas' Jalen Wilson, Houston’s Marcus Sasser and Alabama’s Brandon Miller.
The second team is UCLA's Jaime Jaquez, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis and Penn State’s Jalen Pickett.
Kolek was joined on the third team by Kansas State's Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson, Iowa’s Kris Murray and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette guard Tyler Kolek is named to AP All-American third team
