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CBS Sports writer Gary Parrish's job requires him to hang with college basketball head coaches on the road, especially during AAU season. And so he has a pretty good gauge upon who coaches think will step into the NCAA spotlight next year.
This season, it might be harder to project. Parrish doesn't think there will be one unanimous All-American selection. Good luck finding guessing, he says.
But hey, it's worth a shot. Parrish picked Arizona Wildcats forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to make his All-American First Team list. Incoming Duke big man Jahlil Okafor, Louisville power forward Montrezl Harrell, North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige and Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet also appear on Parrish's list.
Those are all nationally relevant players from teams ranked in the top 10 of the preseason Top 25 (and one), which makes them reasonable choices, I think. But I could've just as easily gone with Tyus Jones (Duke) or Juwan Staten (West Virginia) instead of VanVleet. Or with Ron Baker (Wichita State) or Caris Levert (Michigan) instead of Paige. Or with Sam Dekker (Wisconsin) or Stanley Johnson (Arizona) instead of Hollis-Jefferson. Or with Georges Niang (Iowa State) or Karl Towns (Kentucky) instead of Harrell. Or with Cliff Alexander (Kansas) or Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) instead of Okafor.
Bottom line, there just aren't any clear-cut preseason All-American choices this year.
At least 15 or 20 players could reasonably be placed on a first team.
Will Parrish be right? He doesn't know. You don't know. I don't know. Sean Miller, meanwhile, will be happy with two of his players showing up on that list.