To little surprise, Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor has been chosen as the Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year. Okafor was consistently the frontrunner here at CBSSports.com during our season-long Freshman of the Year Watch, leading the field from week one.
CBSSports.com again teamed up with the United States Basketball Writers Association, which is in charge of deciding the Tisdale Award. The USBWA All-Freshman Team corresponds with the final week of our Freshman Watch, from last Tuesday.
Here's the five-man team, in alphabetical order:
F Stanley Johnson, Arizona (6-7, 245, Fr., Fullerton, Calif.)
C Jahlil Okafor, Duke (6-11, 270, Fr., Chicago, Ill.)
G D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State (6-5, 180, Fr., Louisville, Ky.)
F Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky (6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.)
G Melo Trimble, Maryland (6-3, 190, Fr., Upper Marlboro, Md.)
Okafor has helped Duke to a 29-4 record and the No. 1 seed in the South region of the NCAAs. Duke's also done the unpredictable in winning back-to-back Tisdale awards. Duke's Jabari Parker took home the honor in 2014.
Okafor averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting almost 70 percent from the field.
"Okafor has recorded 11 double-doubles and 12 20-point games this season," the USBWA's press release states. "His 28 straight double-digit scoring games, achieved earlier this season, is a freshman conference record. Eight times this season Okafor was named ACC Rookie of the Week."
Next to be announced from the USBWA is the Oscar Robertson Award, which goes to the sport's most outstanding player, and the Henry Iba Award, given to the coach of the year.
