March Madness All-Tournament Teams
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Along with the championship trophy and Most Outstanding Player award, an All-Tournament team has been selected at the conclusion of each Final Four since 1952.
The team is chosen by credentialed members of the media covering the event and usually consists of the 5 best players from the 4 participating teams during the semifinal and final rounds. Although there have been 2 occasions, in 1972 and 1952, in which 6 players were selected.
There have been 12 occasions in which all 4 teams were represented on the All-Tournament team, though it’s happened only once – in 1993 – since the NCAA eliminated its third-place game in 1982. There has never been a year in which the All-Tournament team was composed of players from only 1 team.
Here is the rundown of every All-Tournament team in March Madness history:
All-time All-Tournament teams
*-Team’s participation vacated because of NCAA infractions
#-Now known as Karem Abdul-Jabbar
+-Now known as UTEP
First All-Tournament Team
The first NCAA Tournament was played in 1939 and administered by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. But it wasn’t until the following season that the tournament, which was run directly by the NCAA for the first time, that an All-Tournament team was selected.
The 1940 All-Tournament team was dominated by 3 members of the national champion Indiana Hoosiers – Marv Huffman, Jay McCreary and Bob Menke – while Howard Engleman and Bob Allen represented runnerup Kansas. Huffman, who scored 12 points in his team’s 60-42 victory, was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Interestingly, no All-Tournament Teams were selected for the next 10 years. There has been one for every Final Four since 1952.
Most Recent All-Tournament Team
UConn’s dominance in sweeping to its second straight national championship is reflected in the makeup of the 2024 All-Tournament team. Four of its five members played for the Huskies, led by Most Outstanding Player Tristen Newton.
Newton, a member of the All-Tournament team for the second time, scored a team-leading 20 points with 7 assists and 5 rebounds in his team’s 75-60 national championship victory against Purdue. Boilermakers’ center Zach Edey, the national Player of the Year, was the only non-UConn player selected after scoring 37 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in a losing effort in the final.
Best All-Tournament Team
There have been some great collections of players selected to the Final Four’s All-Tournament team. The Magic Johnson-Larry Bird team featured 2 of the greatest players ever while the 1992 team of Duke’s Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and Christian Laettner, and the Michigan duo of Chris Webber and Jalen Rose featured 5 future first-round NBA Draft picks.
But when it comes to the best All-Tournament team ever, none comes close to the 1982 quintet of MOP James Worthy, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins of North Carolina, and Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and Eric “Sleepy” Floyd. Four of the 5 went on to earn induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame while Floyd was a 2-time All-American who became an NBA All-Star during a 13-year professional career.
Multiple All-Tournament Team Selections
Twenty-seven players have been named to an All-Tournament team more than once during their careers. That includes 4 that were selected 3 times. That elite group includes UCLA’s Bill Walton (1972, 73, 74) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor in 1967, 68 and 69), Patrick Ewing (1982, 84, 85) and Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas (1960, 61, 62).
UCLA has produced the most multiple selections with 7 – Walton, Jabbar, Sidney Wicks (1970-71), John Vallely (1969-70), Lucius Allen (1967-68), Mike Warren (1967-68) and Gail Goodrich (1964-65). Kentucky is next with 3 – Scott Padgett (1997-98), Ron Mercer (1996-97) and Tom Gola (1954-55). Cincinnati and Duke are the only other programs with more than one. Tom Thacker (1962-63) and Oscar Robertson (1959-60) did it with the Bearcats. Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley (both in 1991-92) did it with the Blue Devils.
The other multiple-time All-Tournament selections are UConn’s Tristen Newton (2023-24), North Carolina’s Joel Berry II (2016-17), Butler’s Shelvin Mack (2010-11), Florida’s Corey Brewer (2006-07), Arkansas’ Corliss Williamson (1994-95), Michigan’s Chris Webber (1992-93), UNLV’s Anderson Hunt (1990-91), Houston’s Akeem Olajuwon (1983-84), Cal’s Darrall Imhoff (1959-60), San Francisco’s Bill Russell (1955-56) and Kansas’ Dean Kelly (1952-53).
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
