Jabari Smith named Auburn’s first All-American in 23 years

This is well deserved.

Jabari Smith is one of the best players to play basketball for Auburn and he has accomplished something no Auburn player has done in 23 years.

He was named a second team All-American by the Sporting News on Monday. The superstar freshman is Auburn’s first All-American since Chris Porter and Doc Robinson were both tabbed All-Americans at the end of the 1998-99 season. He is just the 12th All-American in program history.

Smith, Auburn’s highest-rated signee in program history, helped lead Auburn to a 15-3 record in SEC play, earning the program an outright regular-season championship. The Tigers will enter the SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida as the No. 1 seed.

The 6-10 freshman averaged 17.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and shot a blistering 43.6 percent from 3-point range.

This will not be the last accolade he earns this season, several more publications will be announcing their All-American teams this week and he is widely expected to win the SEC Freshman of the Year award.