1979 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans explained

Awarded For:	1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Previous:	1978
Main:	All-Americans
Next:	1980

The consensus 1979 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams.^[1] To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The United Press International and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

1979 Consensus All-America team

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Larry Bird	F	Senior	Indiana State
Mike Gminski	C	Junior	Duke
David Greenwood	F	Senior	UCLA
Magic Johnson	G	Sophomore	Michigan State
Sidney Moncrief	G	Senior	Arkansas

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Bill Cartwright	C	Senior	San Francisco
Calvin Natt	C	Senior	Northeast Louisiana
Mike O'Koren	F	Junior	North Carolina
Jim Paxson	G/F	Senior	Dayton
Jim Spanarkel	G	Senior	Duke
Kelly Tripucka	F	Sophomore	Notre Dame
Sly Williams	F	Junior	Rhode Island

Individual All-America teams

All-America Team
	First team		Second team		Third team		Fourth Team
	Player	School	Player	School	Player	School	Player	School
Associated Press^[2]							No fourth team
						UCLA
						Michigan State
						Notre Dame
						Rhode Island
USBWA^[3]	Larry Bird	Indiana State	Calvin Natt	Northeast Louisiana	No third or fourth teams
	Bill Cartwright	San Francisco		North Carolina
	Mike Gminski	Duke		Dayton
	Magic Johnson	Michigan State	Kelly Tripucka	Notre Dame
	Sidney Moncrief	Arkansas	Sly Williams	Rhode Island
NABC^[4]	Larry Bird	Indiana State	Bill Cartwright	San Francisco	Joe Barry Carroll	Purdue		Brigham Young
	Mike Gminski	Duke	Reggie King	Alabama				Rutgers
	David Greenwood	UCLA	Mike O'Koren	North Carolina	Ronnie Lester	Iowa	Calvin Natt	Northeast Louisiana
	Magic Johnson	Michigan State		Duke				Marquette
	Sidney Moncrief	Arkansas	Kelly Tripucka	Notre Dame	Jim Paxson	Dayton		Indiana
UPI^[5]	Larry Bird	Indiana State	Bill Cartwright	San Francisco	James Bailey	Rutgers	No fourth team
	Mike Gminski	Duke	Darrell Griffith	Louisville		Duke
	David Greenwood	UCLA	Sidney Moncrief	Arkansas	Ronnie Lester	Iowa
	Magic Johnson	Michigan State	Mike O'Koren	North Carolina		Ohio State
	Jim Spanarkel	Duke	Kelly Tripucka	Notre Dame	Sly Williams	Rhode Island

AP Honorable Mention:^[6]

• Mark Aguirre, DePaul
• James Bailey, Rutgers
• Gene Banks, Duke
• Kim Belton, Stanford
• Rolando Blackman, Kansas State
• Roosevelt Bouie, Syracuse
• Brad Branson, SMU
• Michael Brooks, La Salle
• Matt Brown, Army
• Lawrence Butler, Idaho State
• Terence Carney, Pacific
• Sam Clancy, Pittsburgh
• Elbert Darden, Rice
• Larry Demic, Arizona
• Joe DeSantis, Fairfield
• Sammy Drummer, Georgia Tech
• Terry Duerod, Detroit
• Nikos Galis, Seton Hall
• Larry Gibson, Maryland
• Kim Goetz, San Diego State
• Michael Gray, Nevada
• Al Green, LSU
• Darrell Griffith, Louisville
• Brad Holland, UCLA
• Cheese Johnson, Wichita State
• Reggie Johnson, Tennessee
• Steve Johnson, Oregon State
• Albert King, Maryland
• Wayne Kreklow, Drake
• Jim Krivacs, Texas
• Jeff Lamp, Virginia
• Emmett Lewis, Colorado
• Kyle Macy, Kentucky
• Ollie Matson, Pepperdine
• John McCullough, Oklahoma
• Keith McDonald, Utah State
• Mike Niles, Cal State Fullerton
• Mike O'Koren, North Carolina
• Jim Paxson, Dayton
• Ron Perry, Holy Cross
• Tony Price, Penn
• Rick Raivio, Portland
• Kelvin Ransey, Ohio State
• Ricky Reed, Temple
• Cliff Robinson, USC
• Jeff Ruland, Iona
• DeWayne Scales, LSU
• Craig Shelton, Georgetown
• Jim Spanarkel, Duke
• John Stroud, Ole Miss
• Londale Theus, Santa Clara
• Bernard Toone, Marquette
• Darnell Valentine, Kansas
• Ronnie Valentine, Old Dominion
• Ren Watson, VCU
• Hawkeye Whitney, NC State
• Herb Williams, Ohio State
• Rudy Woods, Texas A&M

Academic All-Americans

On March 21, 1979, CoSIDA announced the 1979 Academic All-America team.^[7] The following is the 1978–79 Academic All-America Men's Basketball Team as selected by CoSIDA:

Academic All-America Team

Player	School	Class
Mike Gminski	Duke	Junior
Greg Kelser	Michigan State	Senior
Jim Krivacs	Texas	Senior
Kyle Macy	Kentucky	Senior
Jim Paxson	Dayton	Senior
Ron Perry	Holy Cross	Junior
Jim Spanarkel	Duke	Senior
Kelly Tripucka	Notre Dame	Sophomore
Darnell Valentine	Kansas	Sophomore
Kiki Vandeweghe	UCLA	Junior

See also

• 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

Notes and References

1. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2009/Award.pdf NCAA Record Book - Award Winners
2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/all_america.html AP All-America Teams
3. Web site: USBWA Men's All-Americans . 2009-02-24 . 2009-08-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090827033832/http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/allamerica/1970-79.html . dead .
4. Web site: NABC Division I All-America History. 17 December 2021 . National Association of Basketball Coaches. July 13, 2022.
5. http://www.ncaapublications.com/Uploads/PDF/m_basketball_finesta2ccdb4e-d86f-4abf-a138-5bb24fd77472.pdf 2005 NCAA Basketball's Finest - All-Americans
6. News: AP All-America basketball team. The Post-Crescent. March 1, 1979. 28. Newspapers.com. June 30, 2020.
7. Web site: Gminski, Spanarkel on all-academic team. October 3, 2011. March 22, 1979. Wilmington Morning Star.