KU senior Ochai Agbaji named first-team AP All-American

By Matt Tait     Mar 15, 2022

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji (30) gets inside for a shot against Oklahoma State forward Moussa Cisse (33) during the second half on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas senior Ochai Agbaji added to his haul of honors on Tuesday, earning first-team All-American honors from The Associated Press.

It marks the third first team All-America selection for Agbaji thus far. He also earned the honor from The Sporting News and Bleacher Report.

The AP and The Sporting News are two of the four that make up the collaboration of Consensus All-America teams. KU’s last AP All-America first team selection was Devonte’ Graham in 2018. Graham went on to be a Consensus first-team All-American.

Agbaji is the fifth player in the Bill Self era at Kansas to be named to the Associated Press All-America first team, joining Graham, Frank Mason III (2017), Thomas Robinson (2012) and Wayne Simien (2005). KU has had a player named AP All-America first, second or third team 19 times in under Self.

Joining Agbaji on the 2022 AP All-America first team were Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky), Johnny Davis (Wisconsin) and Keegan Murray (Iowa). The AP team is selected on by the 60 members who vote on the weekly AP men’s basketball poll.

A Naismith Player of the Year semifinalist, Agbaji also won Big 12 Player of the Year, from both the AP and the coaches, and was named the Most Outstanding Player at last week’s Big 12 tournament.

Earlier Tuesday, he and teammate Christian Braun were named to the NABC All-District 8 first team.

Agbaji currently leads the Big 12 — and is 25th nationally — in scoring at 19.7 points per game. The Kansas City, Missouri, guard is second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (40.5%, 31st nationally) and in 3-point field goals made per game (2.8, 42nd nationally).

A four-year starter for KU, Agbaji has etched his name into the Kansas records book. He holds the record for consecutive games of 3-point field goals made at 53. He also ranks 18th on the KU career scoring list with 1,570 points, fourth on the 3-point field goals made (239) and fourth on 3-point field goals attempted (645).

Ranked No. 3 in both national polls, Kansas (28-6) is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the 2022 NCAA Championship. On Thursday, March 17, KU will face the winner of the March 15 play-in game between 16 seeds Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The contest will be played at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, and will be televised TruTV with an 8:57 p.m. CST tip.

Ochai Agbaji 2021-22 Honors To Date

Associated Press All-America First Team

NABC All-District 8 First Team

Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player

Big 12 Championship All-Tournament

Naismith Player of the Year Semifinalist (1 of 10)

Sports Illustrated All-America Second Team

Bleacher Report All-America First Team

The Sporting News All-America First Team

Big 12 Player of the Year (Big 12 and AP)

All-Big 12 First Team (Big 12 and AP)

Wooden Award Final Ballot (1 of 15)

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Finalist (1 of 5)

Academic All-Big 12 Second Team

co-Big 12 Player of the Week (2.21.22)

Naismith Player of the Year Midseason Team (1 of 30)

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Watch List (top 10)

Big 12 Player of the Week (1.24.22)

The Sporting News Midseason All-American Second Team

Big 12 Player of the Week (1.17.22)

Big 12 Player of the Week (11.15.21)

Big 12 Player of the Week (11.15.21)

Wooden Award Preseason Top 50

Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List (1 of 50)

NABC Player of the Year Watch List (1 of 20)

Preseason All-Big 12

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.