March 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY – Kentucky freshman Julius Randle continues to add to his list of postseason accolades after the National Association of Basketball Coaches tabbed him to the All-District 21 team on Wednesday. Randle is the only freshman selected to his district’s squad.

He’s now eligible for the NABC Coaches’ Division I All-America teams.

Kentucky’s freshman forward ended the regular season leading the team in points (477) and rebounds (324). He also shot 52.0 percent from the floor and held a 72.2 rate from the free-throw line. No freshman in the SEC scored more points than Randle, who ranks sixth in the UK freshman record books for points in a season.

Randle led the SEC with 18 double-doubles and averaged 10.5 rebounds per game. He hauled in five more boards than Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes for the season to lead the league in that category as well. The Dallas native ranked fourth in the league in field-goal percentage and also led the conference in defensive rebounds per game at 6.9 per outing. His 324 rebounds is the fourth most of any freshman in UK history, and it also is the 22nd most by any player in program history in a single year. 

Furthermore, Randle has sunk 164 free throws on the season and needs just nine more to tie John Wall for the freshman record. That total is also 10th among any UK player in program history.

Randle had 26 double-figure scoring efforts for the year and paced the squad in rebounding in all but eight games.

Kentucky returns to action on Friday, in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. UK will face the winner of the LSU-Alabama game at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air on SEC TV.