Michigan State senior guard Denzel Valentine was named First-Team All-America by the Sporting News Wednesday. He is the first Spartan to be honored by the magazine since Draymond Green in 2012 and the 11th player in program history. He is joined on the first team by Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, Utah’s Jakob Poeltl, and Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis.
Besides Green, other Spartans honored by Sporting News include Jason Richardson (2001-2nd Team), Morris Peterson (2000-1st Team), Mateen Cleaves (1999-2nd Team, 2000-1st Team), Shawn Respert (1995-1st Team), Steve Smith (1990-1st Team, 1991-1st Team), Scott Skiles (1986-1st Team), Sam Vincent (1985-1st Team), Earvin "Magic" Johnson (1979-1st Team) and Johnny Green (1958-2nd Team, 1959-2nd Team).