LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville forward Jordan Nwora has been named to Associated Press 2020 All-America Men’s Basketball team as a third team selection.
Nwora is the Cardinals’ 21st All-America selection and first since Russ Smith was a consensus first team All-America choice in 2014. To date, he has also been named to All-America teams by The Sporting News (third team), USA Today (third team), Sports Illustrated (third team) and The Athletic (third team).
Members of the Associated Press first team include Obi Tobbin, Dayton, Luka Garza, Iowa; Markus Howard, Marquette; Myles Powell, Seton Hall; and Payton Pritchard, Oregon. Second team selections are Devon Dotson, Kansas; Udoka Azubuike, Kansas; Malachi Flynn, San Diego State; Cassius Winston, Michigan State; and Vernon Carey Jr., Duke. Joining Nwora on the third team are Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga; Jared Butler, Baylor; Tre Jones, Duke; and Jalen Smith, Maryland. The ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences each led the way with three selections each.
Included on the John Wooden Award final ballot for national player of the year, Nwora was a preseason first team Associated Press All-America selection. He was the only player to rank among the ACC’s top ten in scoring (18.0 ppg, second in the ACC), rebounding (7.7, 8th), free throw percentage (.813, 4th), field goal percentage (.440, 8th) and three-pointers made per game (2.5, 2nd). Nwora scored in double figures in 27 games this season and on 67 occasions in his career. The 6-8 junior from Buffalo, N.Y., produced seven double-doubles this season and 16 in the last two years, second-best in the ACC.
Nwora scored a career-high 37 points at Boston College on Jan. 29, tied for the seventh-most ever scored at Louisville. His 1,294 points in three seasons is tied for 31st in career scoring at UofL. He was named to the 2020 CoSIDA District 2 Academic All-District basketball team and is on target to graduate this summer in three years with a degree in exercise science. He also earned his third straight All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball Team selection.
Nwora, a first-team All-ACC selection who was the second-leading vote-getter and finished second in the conference player of the year voting, is only the Cardinals’ second All-ACC first team selection in Louisville’s six years in the ACC. Donovan Mitchell earned first team All-ACC honors in 2017. Nwora was a third-team pick last season and was named the 2018-19 ACC Most Improved Player.
