MSU's Jamont Gordon Named Rivals.com First-Team Freshman All-American
STARKVILLE, Miss. - In collecting his second freshman all-America honor of the postseason, Mississippi State rookie swingman Jamont Gordon has been named to the Rivals.com Freshman All-American First Team, as announced Monday by the college basketball website.
Previously selected to the 25-man CollegeInsider.com Freshmen All-America Team, Gordon is joined on this year's Rivals.com Freshman All-American First Team by Freshman of the Year Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, LSU's Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Rush of Kansas, and Marquette's Dominic James. The second team consisted of Alabama's Richard Hendrix and Tasmin Mitchell of LSU from the SEC, along with Shawne Williams of Memphis, Cincinnati's Devan Downey and Rodney Stuckey of Eastern Washington.
A unanimous Freshman All-SEC selection by a vote of the league's head coaches and a four-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree this season, Gordon ranked as MSU's second-leading scorer (13.8 ppg; 14th in the SEC) and No. 2 rebounder (6.8 rpg; 9th in SEC) behind second-team all-SEC forward Charles Rhodes. A native of Nashville, Gordon also ranks seventh in the conference in assists (4.3 apg) after setting a new freshman-season school record with 129 assists this season.
Ranked among the top 20 freshmen nationally in scoring, rebounding, assists and minutes played (32.9 mpg), Gordon joins Louisiana-Lafayette senior Dwayne Mitchell as the only two players in NCAA Division I men's basketball currently averaging at least 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest on the year. The lone MSU player to have started all 30 games for coach Rick Stansbury's 15-15 Bulldogs this season, Gordon completed the 2005-06 campaign as MSU's leading freshman scorer since former NBA standout Rickey Brown (1976-77) and was the school's top rookie rebounder since current Dallas Mavericks center Erick Dampier (1993-94). The former second-team PARADE All-American at Oak Hill Academy was State's leading scorer (or co-leader) a team-most 13 times and ranked as the team's leading rebounder (or co-leader) in a dozen games on the year.