The Sporting News 2025-26 College Basketball All-America Team originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The class of 2025 always will have this.
Yes, this, right here.
In the debate regarding the greatest basketball recruiting classes of all time, the year 1995 will have trendsetting and game-changing Kevin Garnett, who became the first to go directly from high school basketball to the NBA to Springfield, along with fellow Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Vince Carter. The year 1979 will have the astonishing depth including future NCAA champions Rodney McCray and Dereck Whittenburg and NBA champions John Paxson and Cliff Levingston, while featuring HOF superstars Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Ralph Sampson and Dominique Wilkins.
However, There’s never been a class that so thoroughly and immediately dominated college basketball as the Class of 2025. This year’s freshman group has produced six members of The Sporting News All-America team, including three on the first team and this year’s only two unanimous selections.
As a publication, we set a trend in honoring freshmen, with others resistant to that change. In 2003, we were the only one of the four selectors included in the NCAA’s consensus All-America squads to place Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony on our first team. The same with North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough in 2006. Even at that, this is the first time we’ve had 40 percent of these honors go to freshmen, and 60 percent of the first team.
In their first (and certainly only) season as collegians, forwards Cameron Boozer of Duke and AJ Dybantsa of BYU were on every ballot from our blue-ribbon panel of journalists and analysts who cover the sport.
But the All-America squad generally is loaded with freshmen in a way the 2025 class will always be able to remind the 79ers.
MORE: SN's latest March Madness bracket forecast
First Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
6-3, 190, Fr. PG
Key stats:22.0 ppg, 6.2 apg, .491 FG, .429 3-PT
Defining game: 31 points, 7 assists, 10-of-15 shooting in 88-75 victory against Auburn.
Overview: If college basketball truly were a one-month sport, as so many claim, and if that month happened to be February, Acuff might be your college basketball player of the year. He was tremendous in those 28 days, averaging just short of a point per day, and he led the Razorbacks to a 5-2 record that carried them to a third-place finish in the SEC and a prominent position on most NCAA bracket projections. Acuff ranks ninth in the nation in scoring and 21st in assists and joined the legendary Pete Maravich as the only SEC players to average 22 points and six assists in SEC history. Coach John Calipari has directed well more than his share of extraordinary freshman point guards – Derrick Rose, John Wall, Brandon Knight, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – but it can be argued none was as productive on the offensive end as Acuff.
Cameron Boozer, Duke
6-10, 250, Fr. PF
Key stats:22.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.1 apg, .583 FG, .407 3-PT
Defining game: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, in 68-63 victory against Michigan.
Overview: Perhaps we should just get used to the idea this guy wins everything – and put him on the United States Men’s National Team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to see the USMNT win that trophy on home turf? In high school, Boozer won four state championships in Florida, as well as the 2025 Chipotle Nationals tournament. His summer team, Nightrydas Elite, won the Nike Peach Jam event at the 15U, 16U and 17U level. He played two summers with USA Basketball and was named MVP as the U.S. won the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, then did the same at the FIBA U17 World Cup. At Duke, his Blue Devils have won 93 percent of their regular-season games and claimed the program’s 22nd ACC regular-season title. His effort against Michigan in a mid-February showdown presented the sort of subtle dominance that separates him from his peers; Boozer’s points/assists combine for that game showed he had a hand in more than half (35 of 68) of Duke’s offensive production. He rarely dazzles, doesn’t overtly dominate. In a sense, he is the prototype of the modern player: Cameron Boozer wrecks opponents with efficiency.
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
6-9, 210, Fr. SF
Key stats: 24.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, .512 FG, .339 3-PT
Defining game: 29 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists in 79-69 victory against Iowa State.
Overview: The late-season injury to veteran shooting guard Richie Saunders might have altered BYU’s horizons as a team, but Dybantsa has done what he can to prevent a total collapse by the Cougars. In the first four games following Saunders’ ACL tear, Dybantsa went off for 35, 29, 29 and 20 points. He has scored 25 or more 13 times, 30 or more six times. He is much more than a scorer, but he is leading Division I in that category, the first freshman to top that category since Trae Young in 2018. Dybantsa is a complete player who defends, rebounds and, if the occasion calls for it, can run the BYU offense like a point guard.
MORE: NBA comps for AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
6-9, 240, Sr. PF
Key stats:16.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.6 spg, .457 FG, .351 3-PT
Defining game: 17 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists in 87-57 victory over UCF.
Overview: Perhaps the only player in college basketball who made his team’s offense great in more ways was Cameron Boozer, and that’s a solid reason for Jefferson to join him on the first team. Jefferson was second among the Cyclones in scoring, led them in minutes and rebounding and tied guard Tamin Lipsey for the team’s lead in assists with a number most any point guard would be proud to have next to his name. Except Jefferson plays up front; of the 60 Division I players who rank ahead of him in that statistic, only two are frontcourt players, and no one else in the top 100 stands as tall as 6-9. He produced two triple-doubles in Big 12 play.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
6-9, 240, Sr. SF
Key stats:14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.2 apg,, 1.4 bpg, 1.2 spg, .502 FG, 1.4 bpg, 1.2 spg
Defining game: 26 points, 12 rebounds, 13-of-15 FT in 83-71 victory at Michigan State.
Overview: Lendeborg’s conversion from exceptionally dynamic power forward to oversized-but-still-plenty-quick small forward has been the key to Michigan’s emergence as a leading contender for the 2026 championship. If he had not been able to manage the transition, Michigan still would have had an extraordinary three-man frontcourt rotation of him, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson but not quite enough elite talent on the wing. Lendeborg has demonstrated he can defend smaller players because there aren’t many more electric than him, and they have a heck of a time handling his combination of strength and skill. Although often stationed away from the basket, he’s produced seven double-figure rebounding games. Although not yet an elite long-distance shooter, he’s made multiple threes in a dozen games. He’s also one of the most impactful perimeter defenders, able to switch onto most any opponent and establish an effective (often overwhelming) degree of control.
Thomas Shea/USA TODAY Network
Second Team
Kingston Flemings, Houston
6-4, 190, Fr. PG
Key stats: 16.5 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.5 spg, .483 FG, .376 3-PT
Defining game: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 8-of-13 shooting in 73-72 victory over Auburn.
Overview:Although Flemings arrived at Houston with the least imposing reputation of the Cougars’ three top freshman recruits, he asserted himself as the Cougars’ most important player within the season’s first two weeks. That Auburn victory was the fourth game of the season. Anyone who didn’t know about him before immediately did, and Flemings has managed the increased defensive attention beautifully. There have been only five games of fewer than 10 points, and the Cougars won each of them. As the season advanced, he became indispensable; he played 30 or more minutes in 12 of 13 games down the stretch. Is there anyone in college basketball better at generating unstoppable shots?
Thomas Haugh, Florida
6-9, 215, Jr. SF
Key stats: 17.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, .471 FG, .344 3-PT
Defining game: 21 points, 12 rebounds, 8-of-15 shooting in 92-77 victory over Georgia
Overview: Haugh was an essential reserve on the Gators’ 2025 championship team – and probably hit the season’s biggest shot with his game-changing 3-pointer in the Elite Eight victory over Texas Tech. With the Gators losing their entire starting perimeter group, Haugh was an obvious choice to move to the wing because of his mobility and shooting touch, and his production has been an enormous part of the Gators’ pursuit of consecutive titles. Haugh has developed into a terrific first option for a balanced Florida squad that contains six double-figure scorers. With the depth in the frontcourt and a solid third guard available, his position is the one that has the least bench cover – so Haugh plays more than 33 minutes a game. Why take him out?
Braden Smith, Purdue
6-0, 170, Sr. PG
Key stats:14.9 ppg, 8.7 apg, 1.8 spg, .462 FG, .388 3-PT
Defining game: 29 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 10-of-12 FT in 87-80 victory at Alabama.
Overview:Smith was a first-team All-America selection as a junior, and he’s maintained or improved on just about every stat that matters in his final season with the Boilermakers. His shooting percentages from the field and 3-point range: up. His turnovers and personal fouls: down. His assist average: identical. Smith has become a target for opposing defenses, who’ve tried just about every scheme to slow him down. Teams that tried to force him to score have surrendered eight 20-point games. Northwestern doubled him to dissuade him from being a primary playmaker or scorer; teammate C.J. Cox produced a career night. When a player has the command of games Smith does, it’s darned near impossible to make him irrelevant.
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
6-6, 180, Fr. PG
Key stats:18.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, 5.0 rpg, .451 FG, .420 3-PT
Defining game: 46 points, 4 assists, 13-of-17 shooting in 88-82 victory at Purdue
Overview: Wagler’s might be the most unlikely story of any All-American in Sporting News history. He was ranked 150th in his high school class, recruited by almost no major schools, was not expected to start as the season approached and didn’t even play his primary position once he entered the rotation. After a disappointing loss to Connecticut, though, coach Brad Underwood handed Wagler the ball – and he became a sensation. As a starter, he’s not had one single-digit scoring game. He’s produced 19 games of five or more assists. He’s absurdly adept at running the pick-and-roll, and good luck to those who try drop coverage against that. There’s nothing Wagler enjoys more than a wide-open 3-pointer, and he’s delighted to fire if opponents grant it.
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
6-9, 230, Jr. PF
Key stats:21.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.7 bpg, .548 FG
Defining game: 31 points, 13 rebounds, 13-of-23 shooting in 78-75 overtime victory against Arizona.
Overview:We are writing too many of these stories in 2026, but this might be the saddest of all. With Toppin in the lineup, Texas Tech defeated Duke, Arizona and Houston, three of the top 10 teams in the country. And he averaged 27 points and 11.7 rebounds in those games. Toppin was a big-game player who now will miss all of the biggest games this season because of a torn ACL that occurred late in an upset loss to Arizona State. Toppin went for 30 or more points six times. He is not an adept perimeter shooter, though he’ll give it a go if teams dare him, but his lefty jump-hook has proven to be unstoppable for collegiate opponents.
Third Team
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
6-3, 178, So. PG
Key stats:19.2 ppg, 7.8 apg, 1.3 spg, .481 FG, .422 3-PT
Defining game: 27 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 9-of-14 shooting in 82-81 victory over Duke
Overview: It’s not easy to be the best player on a team that features J.T. Toppin, but Anderson managed with his dazzling direction of the Red Raiders. And he gladly would trade his current circumstance – in which Toppin is injured and out the rest of the year – for the opportunity to resume that challenge and continue all the way through March. Anderson carried a much greater responsibility for the team’s success after Toppin went down, and he led the team to three wins in the first five games without their frontcourt star – including averaging 8.4 assists in games where Tech no longer could count so many easy post-ups.
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
6-3, 205, Sr. PG
Key stats:13.4 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.6 spg, .461 FG, .382 3-PT
Defining game: 27 points, 5 assists, 9-of-14 shooting in 93-87 victory over Florida
Overview: There was an article years ago written by author Michael Lewis in the New York Times in 2009 about Shane Battier that carried the most memorable headline: The No-Stats All-Star. And that is Jaden Bradley in 2026. None of his stats are dazzling. Maybe he isn’t, either, unless it’s absolutely required. The results surely are, and they would be entirely different with someone else running the Arizona attack. In the heavyweight season opener against Florida, he scored 11 of Arizona’s final 18 points. When Arizona trailed UCLA by 8 with 7 minutes left, Bradley scored 13 of his team’s final 20 points and assisted on a teammate’s 3-pointer. When victory is on the line, he is college basketball’s best point guard.
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
6-3, 205, Sr. PG
Key stats:15.3 ppg, 9.1 apg, 1.3 spg, .446 FG
Defining game: 26 points, 15 assists, 12-of-13 FT shooting in 85-82 victory over Illinois
Overview:It’s not easy to lead the league in assists when your league includes Braden Smith, but Fears took complete command of the Michigan State attack in his sophomore season and helped turn the Spartans into a top-10 team. He reached double figures in assists 12 times, including a season-best of 17 against Maryland, and fits comfortably into the high-tempo, point-guard driven approach preferred by coach Tom Izzo in the nearly 30 years since he first recruited Mateen Cleaves.
Labaron Philon, Alabama
6-4, 185, So. PG
Key stats: 21.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 1.2 spg, .507 FG, .389 3-PT
Defining game: 35 points, 7 assists, 11-of-21 shooting in 117-15 double-OT victory over Arkansas
Overview:As has been the case previously under Nate Oats, Alabama is not exactly a brick wall on defense. So it better be dazzling when in possession of the ball, and most often that starts with Philon. He’s produced 16 games of at least 5 assists, but teams find it such a chore to keep him out of the lane the baskets often wind up coming from Philon’s hand. He delivered nine games of 25 points or more and only once failed to score in double figures.
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
6-10, 215, Fr. PF
Key stats:19.8 ppg, 9.4 apg, 1.4 bpg, 1.5 spg, .578 FG
Defining game: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 9-of-11 shooting in 87-74 victory over Kansas
Overview:Where would Wilson have landed on this team if he’d played a full season? Where would North Carolina have gone in March if he were available the rest of the way? To make third team after missing a fourth of the season is extraordinary, but then, so was Wilson. One of the most dynamic 6-10 forwards the college game has seen in a while, Wilson was too much for most opposing defenses to handle. His consistency was astonishing. Averaging just short of 20 points while only once topping 25 points isn’t easy to do, but Wilson managed because he hit the 20 mark in 71 percent of the games he played.