March 27, 2012
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball sophomore guard Jamaal Franklin was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press, the organization announced Monday. Franklin is the 14th All-American in school history, fifth in the Division I era, third during the Steve Fisher era and second in as many seasons.
Franklin, who is the sixth Aztec in program history to earn All-America honors from the AP, joins Brandon Heath (2006) and Kawhi Leonard (2011) as the only SDSU student-athletes to be voted an Associated Press All-American during Fisher's 13-year tenure on Montezuma Mesa. Prior to Heath in 2006, San Diego State's last AP All-American was Michael Cage, who was a second-team pick in 1984.
Hailing from Hawthorne, Calif., Franklin led the No. 22/23 Aztecs in scoring and rebounding after averaging 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in his first season as a starter. The Mountain West Player of the Year also averaged 1.5 assists and shot 80.0 percent from the free-throw line, while compiling 12 double-doubles, 29 double-figure scoring games and nine games with at least 20 points, which includes three 30-point performances.
In addition to being named the league's player of the year for the MW regular-season co-champions, Franklin landed on the all-Mountain West first team and MW all-tournament squad, and was an NABC and USBWA all-district selection. The sophomore was also named the nation's most improved player by CBSSports.com after averaging 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.1 minutes as a freshman a year ago.
Franklin was one of two student-athletes from the Mountain West to collect AP All-America honors. UNLV's Mike Moser was also an honorable mention choice.
San Diego State completed a 2011-12 campaign that saw it finish with a 26-8 record and advance to the NCAA Tournament for a school-record third consecutive season. The 26 victories are tied for the second-most in program history and marks the fourth straight year in which SDSU has won at least 25 games. The Aztecs' seventh consecutive postseason invitation is also a school record as is their current streak of seven straight seasons with at least 20 victories.
San Diego State Associated Press All-Americans
1967 Al Skalecky Honorable Mention1983 Michael Cage Honorable Mention1984 Michael Cage Second Team2006 Brandon Heath Honorable Mention2011 Kawhi Leonard Second Team2012 Jamaal Franklin Honorable Mention