March 26, 2014

KANSAS CITY – Freshman Julius Randle has been honored as a third-team All-America selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) it was announced on Wednesday. Randle is one of three freshmen to earn All-America distinction by the NABC.

The squads were selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC determining the finest basketball players across America in 2013-14.

Randle is the fifth freshman in the John Calipari era to earn All-America accolades from the NABC. He joins DeMarcus Cousins (2010), Anthony Davis (2012), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2012) and John Wall (2010) as other freshmen in the last five seasons to claim the honor.

The Dallas native leads the nation with 22 double-doubles on the season. He’s averaging team-bests in points (15.1) and rebounds (10.6) per game this year. In two NCAA Tournament games, Randle is logging 16 points and 12.5 boards in the two victories.

UK’s freshman forward has earned a bevy of honors thus far. He was recently tabbed a freshman All-America selection by the National Association of Basketball Writers. He’s also hauled in SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Newcomer of the Year by the leagues’ coaches and the Associated Press, respectively. Both the coaches and the AP tabbed him as a first-team All-SEC selection. He also earned SEC All-Tournament honors after helping lead UK to the Championship game.

Kentucky returns to action on Friday, in the Regional Semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis. UK will face Louisville at approximately 9:45 p.m. ET. The game will air on CBS and Jim Nantz, Greg Anthony and Tracy Wolfson will have the call.