Bucknell's Muscala Named AP Honorable Mention All-American
3/28/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 28, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell sophomore center Mike Muscala (Roseville, Minn./Roseville) earned an honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America Team, the AP announced Monday. The 2010-11 Patriot League Player of the Year, Muscala is the fourth Bucknell player to earn AP honorable mention accolades, joining Hal Danzig in 1959, Jaye Andrews in 1985 and Charles Lee in 2006.
Muscala was a First Team All-Patriot League pick this year, in addition to becoming only the third sophomore to win Player of the Year honors. He was also named the Patriot League Tournament MVP after leading the Bison to their first championship since 2006.
The 6-11 center paced the Bison in scoring (14.9), rebounding (7.3), field-goal percentage (.517) and blocked shots (67) this season. He led the Patriot League in blocks and ranked third in field-goal percentage, fourth in rebounding and seventh in scoring. Muscala's 67 blocks were third-most in a season by any Bucknell player, and after only two seasons he already ranks third on the school's career blocks list with 132.
Muscala scored a career-high 33 points along with 10 rebounds and five blocks in a league win over American. It was only the second 30-10-5 game in program history. One game later he had 23 points and 13 rebounds and hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds against Holy Cross, and he was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after those two performances.
Muscala, who also hit a buzzer-beater in a road win over a Richmond team that later went on to the Sweet Sixteen, became just the 13th player in program history and the first since J.R. Holden 1997-98 to record 500 points in a season (he finished with 507).
Off the court, Muscala earned Capital One Academic All-District honors and was a member of the Academic All-Patriot League Team.
Bucknell finished 25-9 in 2010-11, falling to eventual Final Four participant Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Bison went 13-1 in the Patriot League and defeated Army, Lehigh and Lafayette to win the Patriot League Tournament title on their home floor.
Including other publications' All-America Teams, Muscala is the 12th Bucknell player to earn some type of All-America honor.
The AP All-America First Team consisted of BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Duke's Nolan Smith, Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, UConn's Kemba Walker and Purdue's JaJuan Johnson.
First Team
Jimmer Fredette, BYU, 6-2, 195, senior, Glens Falls, N.Y., 28.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 40.4 3-pt fg pct, 89.1 ft pct. (64 first-place votes, 323 points).
Nolan Smith, Duke, 6-2, 185, senior, Upper Marlboro, Md., 21.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 81.6 ft pct. (61, 315).
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State, 6-9, 280, freshman, Columbus, Ohio, 17.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 53.6 fg pct. (58, 311).
Kemba Walker, Connecticut, 6-1, 172, junior, Bronx, N.Y., 23.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.9 steals, 37.5 minutes (51, 297).
JaJuan Johnson, Purdue, 6-10, 221, senior, Indianapolis, 20.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 81.5 ft pct, 2.3 blocks (44, 277).
Second Team
Marcus Morris, Kansas, 6-9, 235 junior, Philadelphia, 17.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 58.7 fg pct. (14, 208).
Derrick Williams, Arizona, 6-8, 241, sophomore, La Mirada, Calif., 19.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 61.5 pg pct, 60.3 3-pt fg pct. (16, 205).
Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame, 6-3, 203, senior, Poplar Bluff, Kan., 18.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.3 apg, 44.1 3-pt fg pct, 81.4 ft pct. (7, 184).
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin, 6-1, 195, junior, Bloomington, Minn., 18.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 43.3 3-pt fg pct, 84.9 ft pct, 4.2 a/to ratio (2, 122).
Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State, 6-7, 225, sophomore, Riverside, Calif., 15.4 ppg, 10.7 rpg. (2, 107).
Third Team
Jordan Hamilton, Texas, 6-7, 220, sophomore, Compton, Calif., 18.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.1 apg. (1, 84).
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State, 6-8, 228, senior, Newark, N.J., 17.6 ppg, 14.5 rpg, 64.4 fg pct, 2.4 blocks, 2.0 steals (2, 72).
Jacob Pullen, Kansas State, 6-0, 200, senior, Maywood, Ill., 19.5 ppg, 3.7 apg, 1.7 steals. (1, 68).
Tu Holloway, Xavier, 6-0, 185, junior, Hempstead, N.Y., 20.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.5 apg, 38.4 minutes, 86.9 ft, pct, 1.5 steals (0, 45).
Marshon Brooks, Providence, 6-5, 200, senior, Stone Mountain, Ga., 24.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 steals (1, 32).
Honorable Mention
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina; Talor Battle, Penn State; Devon Beitzel, Northern Colorado; Keith Benson, Oakland; Solomon Bozeman, UALR.
Alec Burks, Colorado; Gilberto Clavell, Sam Houston State; Norris Cole, Cleveland State; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech; Austin Freeman, Georgetown.
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh; Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston; Justin Greene, Kent State; Dwight Hardy, St. John's; John Holland, Boston U.
Ken Horton, Central Connecticut State; Reggie Jackson, Boston College; Rick Jackson, Syracuse; Charles Jenkins, Hofstra; John Jenkins, Vanderbilt.
Aaron Johnson, UAB; Terrence Jones, Kentucky; Trevele Jones, Texas Southern; Brandon Knight, Kentucky; Jon Leuer, Wisconsin.
Mickey McConnell, Saint Mary's; E'Twaun Moore, Purdue; Markieff Morris, Kansas; Mike Muscala, Bucknell; Chandler Parsons, Florida.
C.J. Reed, Bethune-Cookman; Ryan Rossiter, Siena; Jesse Sanders, Liberty; Kyle Singler, Duke; Mike Smith, East Tennessee State.
Isaiah Thomas, Washington; Tristan Thompson, Texas; Nikola Vucevic, Southern California; Brad Wanamaker, Pittsburgh; Casper Ware, Long Beach State.
Kyle Weems, Missouri State; Taj Wesley, Utah State; Jordan Williams, Maryland; Isiah Williams, Utah Valley; Keith Wright, Harvard.
