Link to full All-America teams
NEW YORK—NJIT senior men's basketball star
Isaiah Wilkerson has been named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press for the 2011-12 season, the AP announced.
In earning honorable mention on the most widely-recognized of the All-America teams, Wilkerson, becomes the first NJIT student-athlete in any sport to earn AP All-America honors since the program began Division I competition in 2006-07.
Wilkerson, who was the 2011-12 Great West Conference Player of the Year, led NJIT this year in both scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (6.6 rebounds per game), as the Highlanders advanced to the Great West championship game.
The Staten Island, NY, native also led the team in steals (56) and was second in assists (66) and third in 3-point baskets (44). He also made nearly 82 percent of his free throw attempts (115-141).
He played an integral role in raising NJIT's men's basketball program throughout his career. In 2008-09, his freshman year, the Highlanders won just one game, but they won 15 games in both his junior and senior years, including the run to the Great West title game, where he had game-high totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds in his final college appearance.
Wilkerson is the career leader in scoring (1,577 points) and rebounding (616) in NJIT's Division I era and his totals ranked seventh in scoring for the program overall (pre-NCAA and all three NCAA Divisions) and 10th in rebounding overall. First-team all-conference his last two seasons, he reached double-figure scoring his last 47 consecutive games against Division I opponents.
This year's AP All-America first team was headed by
Thomas Robinson of Kansas, the first unanimous pick since
Blake Griffin in 2009. The other four first-teamers were:
Anthony Davis (Kentucky);
Draymond Green (Michigan State);
Jared Sullinger (Ohio State); and,
Doug McDermott (Creighton).
Ten other players were named to the AP All-America second and third teams (five each) and Wilkerson was one of 43 players nationwide receiving honorable mention.
Wilkerson is the only player from any of the eight New Jersey Division I programs honored on the 2012 AP All-America teams.
