Standout freshmen join Smith, Lendeborg headlining 2025-26 USBWA Men's All-America Team

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) — Three freshmen, guard Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas and forwards Cameron Boozer of Duke and AJ Dybansta of BYU, plus graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan and senior guard Braden Smith of Purdue, headline the 2025-26 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men’s All-America First Team.

Freshmen dominate the complete 15-man All-America team with six selections, a record since the USBWA expanded to add a third team to its All-America selections following the 2018-19 season, and twice as many as the next-highest classes with three sophomore and seniors, two juniors and Lendeborg being the lone graduate student-athlete. The composition of the team mirrors the extraordinary parity that exists in this college basketball season, as only one program — Texas Tech — has two players represented on the combined 15-man All-America team. Texas Tech forward JT Toppin repeats as a second-team All-America player and guard Christian Anderson is on the third team. Arizona has two as well, if including the six players earning Honorable Mention. 

All 15 players come from schools in the Big 12 (six), Big Ten (four), SEC (three) and ACC (two). Purdue's Smith is a repeat member on the first team, with Toppin joining him as the only repeat members of the team. Iowa senior guard Bennett Stirtz returns on the honorable mention list one year after earning the same honor last season while playing at Drake. 

Smith returns to the first team as a first-team All-Big Ten selection and as the Big Ten Tournament MVP. The senior guard leads the nation in assists (317), now owns the Big Ten single-season record going into the NCAA Tournament, and is just two assists away from becoming the NCAA’s all-time leader in career assists. He has 1,075 career assists to date, just behind Duke legend Bobby Hurley, who holds the record with 1,076. Smith averages 14.0 points, 9.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game and is the first high-major player to average at least 14.0 points, 9.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game since LSU’s Randy Livingston in 1995.

These selections represent only the 2025-26 regular season, but it is worth noting Smith is the only player in NCAA history to have at least 1,500 points, 1,000 assists and 500 career rebounds, currently with 1,865 points, 1,075 assists and 661 rebounds.

Only once before has the USBWA had as many as four freshmen on its All-America team (2020-21), and only once before (2017-18) had three on the first team. 

Acuff was the unanimous SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, helping Arkansas win the 2026 SEC Tournament Championship last weekend while being named Tournament MVP. He enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 22.9 points and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 44.5 percent (85-191) from 3-point range.

Boozer was the ACC's Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year as well and a five-team ACC Player of the Week. Boozer leads the top-seeded Blue Devils in scoring (22.5 ppg) while shooting 56.5 percent from the field and also leads them in rebounds (10.2) and assists (4.2). 

Dybantsa has led the nation in scoring for most of the season, averaging 25.3 points per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field, 34.0 percent from three and 76.4 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in all 34 games. His 859 points going into the NCAA Tournament are third all-time in program history only eight points shy of second place. 

Lendeborg was the Big Ten's Player of the Year as voted by the conference's coaches and media. The graduate student is averaging a team-high 14.6 points per game and has 26 games in double figures while shooting 50.9 percent (164-322) from the field. 

Boozer (November), Dybansta (December) and Acuff (February) earned the Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Month honors during the season. Boozer and Smith made the Oscar Robertson Players of the Week list twice during the season, with Acuff, Dybansta and Lendeborg each making the list once. 

The other three outstanding freshmen are part of the second team. Wilson is North Carolina's first player in his program's vaunted history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists per game and established UNC freshman records for highest scoring average (19.8 points per game) and 20-point games (17), among others. A broken thumb suffered on March 5 ended Wilson's season but he still earned First Team All-ACC accolades. Flemings is the first Houston freshman in program history to receive All-America honors after leading the Cougars with 16.4 points, 5.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game, shooting 39.2 percent from behind the arc. Wagler has also set freshman records at Illinois as one of three freshmen nationally to average at least 17 points (17.9), 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists and has scored in double figures in his last 24 games. Wagler was the Oscar Robertson Player of the Month for January, 

Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson is the veteran among the second teamers and the Cyclones' first USBWA All-American since the 2015-16 season. He's the first Big 12 player to have multiple triple-doubles in Big 12 play and averages 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game, the only high-major conference player in the country to average those numbers. Toppin returns to the second-team at the end of a shortened season due to injury. It is the first time for Texas Tech to have two players with USBWA honors in the same season. Toppin recorded 16 double-doubles and averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds through 25 games before suffering a season-ending injury on February 17. He led the natoin with 234 field goals made at the time of the injury. 

Anderson is Texas Tech's second member and leads off the third team after setting his program's single-season record with 236 assists that lead the Big 12 at 7.6 assists per game. He's made 105 three-pointers this season. Bradley, the only senior on the third team, is the third Arizona player in the past five seasons to be named his conference's Player of the Year and the first in Arizona's two Big 12 seasons. He averaged 13.4 points and 4.6 assists to lead his team to the NCAA's top overall tournament seed. Fears leads Michigan State in scoring and assists (15.7 and 9.2) as the only player in the country averaging at least 15.0 points and 9.0 assists per game. Haugh averages is Florida's scoring leader at 17.1 points per game as the Gators enter the NCAA Tournament averaging the most points per game in team history (86.8). Philon is the only player in the country to date averaging at least 21.0 points, 4.5 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Adding in freshman guard Brayden Burries on the Honorable Mention list, Arizona ties Texas Tech with two All-America players and gives the Big 12 eight overall representatives out of the 21 honored players. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson joins Burries as honorable mention, along with St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor, Gonzaga forward Graham Ike, Iowa's Stirtz and Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner.   

Following is the complete 2025-26 USBWA Men's All-America Team: