NCAA Basketball: 3 thoughts on the 2018 AP All-American teams

Who was the biggest snub from the list?

The first thought when seeing the teams is always “who was left out?”. A number of players could have made an argument for inclusion, including Allonzo Trier of Arizona, Collin Sexton or Alabama, and Mo Bamba of Texas.

But the guy to me that had the biggest case was Aaron Holiday of UCLA, who singlehandedly led the Bruins to an NCAA Tournament berth by the skin of their teeth.

Remember earlier in the season when UCLA was in the news because of that now infamous shoplifting incident in China? That cost the team three potential rotation players and limited them in terms of depth. The constant news and coverage also had to take a toll on the team in the non-conference.

But thanks to the stellar play of the junior, UCLA was able to rebound and do just enough to make the Big Dance. Holiday, who had back-to-back games of 34 points near the end of the season, averaged 20.3 ppg and 5.8 apg, right near the top of the Pac-12 leaderboard.

Because the Bruins were out of the spotlight along with the mediocrity of the conference in total, Holiday didn’t get enough credit. But his season was good enough for inclusion. One player to take off might be Kyle Guy, who’s on the list more for Virginia’s season accomplishments than his individual numbers.