Haley Jones and Cameron Brink named AP All-Americans
On Wednesday, Stanford junior guard Haley Jones and sophomore forward Cameron Brink were both named All-Americans by the Associated Press. Below is the release put out by Stanford Athletics:
STANFORD, Calif. - A pair of Stanford student-athletes earned All-America recognition from the Associated Press on Wednesday, as Haley Jones was named to the first team and Brink picked up a spot on the third team.
Jones earned honorable mention status from the AP a season ago, while this is the first such recognition for Brink. Jones is Stanford's first first-team AP All-American since Chiney Ogwumike in 2014, and seventh overall. Jones and Brink become Stanford's first All-America duo since Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike in 2012.
Jones and Brink have become a two-headed monster for the Cardinal, on a team with its fair share of weapons. Brink leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg), but Jones is right behind at 13.1 ppg and 7.9 rpg. Brink ranks 14th nationally in blocked shots with 72 on the year, while Jones' 103 assists are tops on the team. The two have combined for nearly 35 percent of Stanford's scoring and over 35 percent of Stanford's rebounding this season.
Jones, also the coaches' choice for Pac-12 Player of the Year, is one of only three Power 5 players in the country averaging at least 13 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game (Caitlin Clark - Iowa; Jordan Horston - Tennessee). She has scored in double figures 21 times this season, including 14 of Stanford's 19 games against conference opponents, while totaling eight double-doubles, along with the first triple-double at Stanford in nearly two decades with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Portland in November. Known for playing her best in the big moments, Jones was named the Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 18.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists in Las Vegas. She also had a number of big performances in the regular season, including a season-high 26 vs. California and 18 points, 19 rebounds and six assists in a victory at No. 7 Tennessee, joining Chiney Ogwumike as the only Division I players this century with that line in an AP top-10 road matchup. The Cardinal is undefeated all-time in games in which Jones secures at least 10 rebounds.
Brink, the media's choice for Pac-12 Player of the Year and consensus Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, is one of only three players nationally averaging at least 13.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while also boasting at least 72 blocks and shooting 56% or greater from the floor (Ayoka Lee - Kansas State; Ameshya Williams - Jackson State). She is the only one of the trio to have even attempted a 3-pointer this season, making eight. Her field goal percentage is tops in the Pac-12 and 20th nationally, and she has scored in double figures 23 times this season for the Cardinal, boasting 11 double-doubles. Her career-best scoring performance of 26 points came in a win at USC, and only a sophomore, she already ranks eighth all-time at Stanford with 160 career blocks. She featured a 22-rebound performance against No. 4 Indiana in November, the highest single-game total in the conference in three seasons. In that victory over the Hoosiers, Brink also added 21 points, five assists and five blocks to put together just the third 20-point, 20-rebound, five assist, five-block performance in women's college basketball since 1999-2000 and the first against a ranked team.
The No. 1 seeded Cardinal opens the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 18 at 7 p.m., hosting 16-seed Montana State on ESPN2.
While both players are more than deserving of being AP All-Americans, one could argue a case for Brink to be the one on the first team instead of Jones just because she leads the team in scoring, rebounding, and shot blocking. I think if you were to ask most Stanford fans which player has had a better season, I think they’d say Brink. But Jones has had her moments where she took over games and was clutch. So by no means am I making a stink about her being on the first team. It’s just that between the two players, I would rank Brink higher. That’s all.
Update: Haley Jones and Cameron Brink also picked up USBWA All-America honors as well. Team release on that is here.
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