Denzel Valentine was named first-team All-America by the United States Basketball Writers Association of America on Monday. Valentine is the first Spartan to be selected as a USBWA All-American since Draymond Green in 2012.
The Lansing native is just the ninth player in Spartan history to be named to the USBWA first-team joining Johnny Green (1959), Earvin “Magic” Johnson (1979), Scott Skiles (1986 – 2nd Team), Shawn Respert (1995 – 1st Team), Mateen Cleaves (1998 – 1st Team, 1999 – 1st Team), Morris Peterson (2000 – 2nd Team), Jason Richardson (2001 – 2nd Team) and Draymond Green (2012 – 1st Team).