The list for College Basketball All-Americans were released on Tuesday, with not many surprises among the 15 best players. There were some obvious choices, including Auburn’s Johni Broome and Cooper Flagg of Duke making the first team. 

Who else made the All-American first-team were Mark Sears (Alabama), Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida) and Braden Smith (Purdue). Clayton led the Florida Gators to an SEC Tournament championship and a 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament, so his spot makes sense. Plus, Smith was second in the nation in assists, while scoring over 16 ppg for Purdue, a 4-seed in the Big Dance and earning Big Ten Player of the Year.

If there was anyone among the first team I’d take issue with is Sears. The 6’1 guard led the Crimson Tide with 18.7 ppg, shooting 40% from the field and five assists per game. In a historically good SEC, Alabama did finish in the top four in the standings at 13-5.

Still, there were times where both Sears and the Crimson Tide struggled. They went 4-5 down the stretch, including going up over 100 points in the SEC Tournament loss to Florida. Meanwhile, you have RJ Luis Jr., who led St. John’s to its first Big East Regular season title in decades, earning a 2-seed in the Big Dance.

If I had a vote, I would’ve swapped Sears and Luis on the first-team. Alabama had plenty of talent besides Sears to remain a top-tier team, while Luis dealt with injuries with his supporting cast over at St. John’s. 

In the end, both teams are two seeds in different regions of the Big Dance and could possibly meet up in the Final Four. We’ll seed if Sears can validate his first-team status in the NCAA Tournament, starting with Robert Morris on Friday in the Round of 64.