NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES : LSU’s Jackson Repeats as an All-American

Sophomore Chris Jackson of Louisiana State was named to the Associated Press All-America college basketball team for the second consecutive year Tuesday, joining seniors Lionel Simmons of La Salle, Gary Payton of Oregon State and Derrick Coleman of Syracuse and junior Larry Johnson of Nevada Las Vegas.

Jackson, who last year became only the second freshman All-American, is the 52nd player to repeat in the 42 years the AP team has been selected.

Wayman Tisdale of Oklahoma, who in 1983 was the first freshman All-American, went on to be a three-time selection before leaving the Sooners after his junior season.

The voting was done by the same national panel of sports writers and broadcasters that selects the weekly top 25.

The second team: sophomore Alonzo Mourning of Georgetown, juniors Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech and Doug Smith of Missouri and seniors Rumeal Robinson of Michigan and Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount.

The late Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount was selected to the third team, along with seniors Steve Scheffler of Purdue and Kendall Gill of Illinois, junior Steve Smith of Michigan State, and freshman Kenny Anderson of Georgia Tech.

Simmons, Mourning and Gathers were named to the third team a year ago.

Johnson, UNLV’s first All-American, sees another first on the horizon for the Runnin’ Rebels as they open play as the top-seeded team in the NCAA West regional--their first national title.

“It’s there for us. We believe we can win the whole thing,” said Johnson. “I don’t think we’ll go in and dominate, but I think our chances are as good as any other team.”

Johnson’s second-ranked Rebels (29-5), coming off a Big West tournament performance that saw them win by an average of 22 points a game, face Arkansas Little Rock (20-9) in Salt Lake City Thursday.

North Carolina and Southwest Missouri State have never met on the basketball court, but the Bears’ Charlie Spoonhour feels as if he’s coached against Dean Smith before.

“We’ve played Larry Brown’s Kansas team, Roy Williams’ Kansas team and we’ve played Eddie Fogler at Wichita State,” Spoonhour said. “They all learned under one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game and incorporated some of (Smith’s) teachings into their programs.”

Brown played for Smith at North Carolina, and Williams and Fogler were assistants to Smith before becoming head coaches.

Spoonhour will match wits with Smith, who has 686 career victories, when the Bears (22-6) and Tar Heels (19-12) play Thursday in Austin, Tex.

Spoonhour, hired by Southwest Missouri in 1983, has a 152-60 record.

Nadav Henefeld, a former Israeli soldier and Big East rookie of the year at Connecticut, will have only two more years of college eligibility left after this season, Coach Jim Calhoun said.

Henefeld, 21, has been listed as a freshman, but school officials expected he would be allowed to play only for three seasons because of his age and participation on the Israeli national team.

Calhoun said he has received a final ruling from the NCAA on Henefeld’s status.

After an 11-year absence, the Connecticut Huskies are returning to the NCAA tournament in style--riding the crest of a Big East championship, ranked No. 3 in the nation, seeded first in the East and playing before home-state fans. The Boston University Terriers, who play the Huskies Thursday at the Hartford Civic Center, say that doesn’t bother them a bit.

“I’ve played at the Carrier Dome, Rupp Arena and the gym that’s called the ‘Thunder Dome’ at Santa Barbara,” said BU guard Steve Key. “We’ve played in front of hostile crowds before.”

It’s the other stuff that worries Key--the Huskies’ trapping defense, which generated a nation-leading 436 steals this season; their depth and offensive balance, which seems to produce a new scoring star each game; and Connecticut’s team chemistry, which helped the Huskies run up a 28-5 record and energize a state full of success-starved basketball fans.

“We have to play an almost perfect game to beat such a quality team,” Key said.

Boston, along with Murray State and Towson State, are the longest shots in the field. All three are listed at 5,000 to 1 to win it all.

The University of Dayton’s 10-game winning streak and spot in the NCAA tournament has been fueled in part by the performance of senior guard Negele Knight, who has been averaging nearly 30 points a game.

After the first 20 games, Knight was averaging 19.8 points and 5.95 assists. But during the 10-game winning streak, he has been pumping in an average of 29.3 points and making 7.9 assists.

The Flyers (21-9) face Illinois (21-7) Thursday night at Austin.

It will be Dayton’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1985, when the Flyers lost a two-point, first-round decision to eventual champion Villanova.

Senior forward Anthony Corbitt said he talked with Knight after the Flyers lost three consecutive games at Notre Dame, Xavier and Loyola of Chicago and were left with an 11-9 record.

“We were going nowhere fast,” Corbitt said. “We weren’t playing with any intensity.”