History

College basketball All-America teams weren't named until 1929, when both College Humor Magazine and the Christy Walsh Syndicate began selecting teams.

The first truly authoritative selections were made by the Converse Yearbook, beginning in 1932 and continuing through 1948.

Other major selectors didn't get involved in naming basketball All-Americans until after World War II: Associated Press in 1948, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and United Press in 1949, and International News Service in 1950.

However, the Helms Athletic Foundation (now the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) chose basketball All-Americans retroactively, beginning in 1920. The Helms panel named ten players for each year, but didn't categorize them as first team or second team.

Several of the other major selectors have chosen second- and third-team All-Americans from time to time, though not with any great consistency.

The lists below incorporate the Helms All-American teams from 1920 through 1932. From that point on, players selected by other sources are also included.

Generally speaking, the players near the top of the list for a given year are those who were named to the most All-America teams. The first five or six can usually be considered consensus All-Americans. Those lower down the list were named less frequently.

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