Kingsley Named to USBWA All-District Team

ST. LOUIS – On the same day he picked up a pair of SEC postseason honors, Arkansas junior Moses Kingsley has been named to the All-District VII Team by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. The USBWA has selected All-District Teams since its founding year in 1956-57.

District VII consists of school from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas and Kingsley is joined on the list by fellow SEC players Ben Simmons of LSU and Jalen Jones and Danuel House of Texas A&M. Simmons was also named the District Player of the Year.

Kingsley has emerged as one of the most improved players in the country in 2015-16, increasing his scoring output by 12.5 points per game and his rebounds by 6.8 boards per contest. He is one of two players in the league and seven high-major players in the country averaging 16-plus points and nine-plus rebounds per game.

The Abuja, Nigeria native is second only to Simmons in the SEC with 15 double-doubles and is the league’s only finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center. Kingsley was named the SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 1 after averaging 17.5 points and 11 rebounds per game with a pair of double-doubles in victories over No. 5 Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

He is the only player in the league with multiple games of 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and his 3.2 offensive rebounds per game lead the SEC. Kingsley is the lone player in the conference to rank in the top five in rebounds, field goal percentage and blocked shots.

On the defensive end, Kingsley has become the premier shot blocker in the league, swatting 75 shots to rank second in the SEC. He has recorded a block in 30 of 31 games this season, including four-plus blocks in seven contests. His 75 blocks are the ninth-most in a single season in Razorbacks history, while the 162 blocks in his career rank sixth in program history.

As the No. 9 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament, Arkansas (16-15, 9-9) will face No. 8 seed Florida in the second round on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for noon CT on SEC Network.

ALL-DISTRICT VII TEAM (TX, AR, LA)
Rico Gathers, Baylor
Alex Hamilton, Louisiana Tech
Danuel House, Texas A&M
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Shawn Long, Louisiana
Nic Moore, SMU
Taurean Prince, Baylor
Ben Simmons, LSU
Isaiah Taylor, Texas
Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin

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