ARRON AFFLALO EARNS FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA HONORS

UCLA junior guard Arron Afflalo has been selected first-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, it was announced today.

In addition, Afflalo was named a first-team All-American by ESPN.com. He has also been selected first-team All-America by Dick Vitale and will be featured on A Vitale special to air on ABC on March 31.

Afflalo, who earlier this week was named Pac-10 and USBWA District IX Player of the Year, leads the Bruins and is third in the Pac-10 in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game. Afflalo has scored in double figures in 29 consecutive games and his led the Bruins in scoring in 17 games this year.

He’s currently the Pac-10’s active scoring leader with 1,447 career points, which ranks 21st on UCLA’s all-time scoring list. In addition, his 199 career three-pointers rank second all-time in Bruin history.

In the last two years, he has led the Bruins to a record of 58-11, two Pac-10 championships, the 2006 Pac-10 Tournament championships and a trip to the 2006 NCAA title game.

Joining Afflalo on the NABC first team are Freshman Kevin Durant of Texas, senior Alando Tucker of Wisconsin, senior Acie Law IV of Texas A&M and sophomore Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina.