2015 NCAA Tournament: First Weekend All-Tourney Team
By Jacob Rude
After the first weekend of the tournament, the Cinderellas have declared themselves and the frauds have been sent home. NC State and Wichita State have improbably made the Sweet 16 while Villanova and Kansas lie in their wake, respectively.
With those unexpected teams and victories have come great performances. Even in a losing effort, there were still players who left it all on the floor, and in the winning efforts there have been players who continue to leave it all on the floor.
With that, we’re going to look at the all-tournament team from the first weekend, with honorable mentions to those who came up just short.
Point Guard
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State Shockers, Midwest Region
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Coming into the tournament, there was a debate about who the best point guard in the country was. VanVleet had a claim, as did Duke’s Tyus Jones, Utah’s Delon Wright, and even Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell. However, after the dust settled on Sunday, there was no more debate, VanVleet is the nation’s best point guard.
In his opening round game, VanVleet went toe-to-toe with Ferrell and out-dueled him, scoring 27 points on 9-of-18 field goal shooting, dominating down the stretch. His counter-part managed 24 points and on 7-of-15 shooting, but it wasn’t enough. VanVleet was hands down the best point guard in the game, evidenced by the final result.
In round two against arch-rival Kansas, VanVleet struggled from the field, but was the catalyst for the Shockers’ upset and demolition of the Jayhawks. Thought he finished with just 17 points, he tallied 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in an all-encompassing effort.
Honorable Mentions: Dee Davis, Xavier (West Region), Travis Trice, Michigan State (East Region), Bryce Alford, UCLA (South Region)
Next: Shooting Guard