FLORIDA — Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. and Auburn Tigers forward/center Johni Broome on Tuesday became the first players from their universities to be named first-team selections to The Associated Press men’s college basketball All-America teams.

What You Need To Know

  • Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. and Auburn's Johni Broome became the first AP All-America first-team picks for their programs

  • Clayton Jr. led Bartow to two Class 6A state championships, and Broome took Tampa Catholic to two 4A semifinals

  • Fellow first-team selection Cooper Flagg of Duke played multiple seasons at Montverde Academy and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft

  • The other two members of the first team are Alabama's Mark Sears and Purdue's Braden Smith

Clayton, who took Bartow to two Class 6A state championships in high school, and Broome, who played two seasons at Plant City High School before transferring to Tampa Catholic and leading that team to the Class 4A semifinals twice, led their college basketball teams this season to No. 1 seedings in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Broome's Tigers hold the No. 1 overall seeding for the tournament and sit atop the South Region, while the Gators are seeded No. 4 overall and are No. 1 in the West Region.

The other first-team members are Duke's Cooper Flagg, who is from Maine but played multiple seasons at Montverde Academy in Lake County; Alabama guard Mark Sears, who was a second-team pick last year, and Purdue guard Braden Smith.

Clayton averaged 17.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and recorded 11 games with at least 20 points on a Gators team that captured the Southeastern Conference Tournament title. He helped Florida climb as high as No. 2 in the AP rankings during the season and seeks to help the Gators win a championship.

“Whatever path, I like my guys,” said Clayton, who started college at Iona. “Me and my guys against whoever.”

Broome averaged 18.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and over 2 blocks per game this season.

Only Broome, a third-team pick a year ago, and Flagg were among the first five on the ballots of all 61 national media members who vote for the weekly AP Top 25. 

“I’ve proved a lot individually through my career but my main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship,” said Broome, who played two seasons at Morehead State before spending the past three with the Tigers. “When the team shines, everyone shines individually. Coming from where I came from, it means a lot to me.”

Flagg, who is widely expected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft if he decides to turn pro after the season, averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

The second and third All-America teams stacked up as follows:

Second Team

JT Toppin, Texas Tech out of Dallas, Texas

Kam Jones, Marquette, out of Cordova, Tenn.

John Tonje, Wisconsin, from Omaha, Neb.

PJ Haggerty, Memphis, of Crosby, Texas

RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s, from Miami

Third Team

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, of St. Louis, Mo.

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee, out of Long Island, N.Y.

Eric Dixon, Villanova, from Willow Grove, Pa.

LJ Cryer, Houston, of Katy, Texas

Hunter Dickinson, Kansas, out of Alexandria, Va.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.