Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. dribbles during practice prior to a first-round game in the NCAA tournament on Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP photo)

Duke forward Cameron Boozer, BYU star AJ Dybantsa and Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas arrived this season as part of what could go down as one of the most heralded freshman classes in college basketball history.

They lived up to their billing, too, and were announced Tuesday as first-team AP All-Americans.

Boozer was a unanimous choice among the 61 voters that select the weekly Top 25 for The Associated Press, following in the footsteps of Cooper Flagg, who also was a unanimous choice as a freshman for the Blue Devils last season. Dybantsa was a first-team pick on all but four ballots, while Acuff was a first-team selection on 47 of the ballots.

Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan and JT Toppin of Texas Tech rounded out the five-member first team.

“He’s all about his teammates,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of Boozer, who was the AP’s national player of the week twice during the season. “He’s not about numbers. He’s about winning. And I think when your best player’s that way, it becomes contagious, and it has a big effect on the rest of the group.”

Such a team-first attitude was on display by all the first-team picks; each helped their team to the NCAA Tournament.

Boozer took the Blue Devils to ACC regular-season and tournament titles and helped them earn the top overall seed. Lendeborg also helped the Wolverines earn a No. 1 seed. Arkansas is seeded fourth, Texas Tech seeded fifth and BYU seeded sixth.

“This has been the best year of my life, honestly. I’ve had so much fun,” said Lendeborg, the first Michigan first-team All-American since Trey Burke in 2012-13. “Just how much I’ve learned this year in general has really helped me out, and is really molding me to be better in the future no matter what I’m doing in my life.”

Second team

Braden Smith of Purdue, who needs two assists to break Bobby Hurley’s career Division I record, earned 12 first-team votes and was chosen a second-team All-American. Smith was a first-team pick last season and honorable mention for the 2023-24 season.

The senior from Westfield, Indiana, was joined on the second team by Big Ten rivals Jeremy Fears of Michigan State and Keaton Wagler of Illinois. Joshua Jefferson of Iowa State and North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson rounded out the team.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness