Per Duke Sports Information
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke junior Grayson Allen was one of five players from across the nation named to the Preseason Associated Press All-America team Wednesday.
Allen was the top vote-getter on the squad, garnering 61 votes from the 65-member panel.
A third-team AP All-American a season ago, Allen led Duke with averages of 21.6 points and 3.5 assists per game in 2015-16. He is the lone major-conference player returning in 2016-17 who averaged at least 20 points per game and dished out at least 100 assists last season.
Allen pulled an All-American double as a sophomore, earning a variety of second and third-team honors for his play on the court while also collecting second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. His +17.2-point scoring increase from his freshman to his sophomore seasons (4.4 to 21.6) was an ACC record.
He is the only member of the AP’s three All-America teams from 2015-16 to return to the college game this season. Allen’s teammates also voted him a team captain, alongside Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones, for the 2016-17 campaign.
At ACC Operation Basketball in late October, Allen was named Preseason ACC Player of the Year and a member of the league’s Preseason ACC first team. He has also been named to the watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, an accolade for which he was one of five national finalists as a sophomore.
The Jacksonville, Fla., native has played in 71 career games for Duke, making 35 starts, with averages of 13.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. For his career, Allen is shooting .459 from the floor, .403 from outside the arc and .839 from the free throw line.
He enters his junior season needing just 68 points to become Duke’s 65th 1,000-point scorer.
Duke will host Augustana on Friday in the second of its two exhibition games. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ryan Craig and Chris Spatola will have the call for ACC Network Extra and the Blue Devil IMG Sports Network will have the radio broadcast.
2016-17 Preseason AP All-America Team
Grayson Allen, Duke
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Josh Hart, Villanova
Monte Morris, Iowa State
Ivan Rabb, California
