# 1979 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The consensus 1979 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The United Press International and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

## 1979 Consensus All-America team

Consensus First Team :
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
| Larry Bird | F | Senior | Indiana State |
| Mike Gminski | C | Junior | Duke |
| David Greenwood | F | Senior | UCLA |
| Magic Johnson | G | Sophomore | Michigan State |
| Sidney Moncrief | G | Senior | Arkansas |
Consensus Second Team :
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
| Bill Cartwright | C | Senior | San Francisco |
| Calvin Natt | C | Senior | Northeast Louisiana |
| Mike O'Koren | F | Junior | North Carolina |
| Jim Paxson | G/F | Senior | Dayton |
| Jim Spanarkel | G | Senior | Duke |
| Kelly Tripucka | F | Sophomore | Notre Dame |
| Sly Williams | F | Junior | Rhode Island |

## Individual All-America teams

| All-America Team |
| All-America Team | First team | First team | Second team | Second team | Third team | Third team | Fourth Team | Fourth Team |
| All-America Team | Player | School | Player | School | Player | School | Player | School |
| Associated Press | Larry Bird | Indiana State | Mike Gminski | Duke | Joe Barry Carroll | Purdue | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| Associated Press | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | Vinnie Johnson | Baylor | Roy Hamilton | UCLA | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| Associated Press | David Greenwood | UCLA | Reggie King | Alabama | Greg Kelser | Michigan State | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| Associated Press | Magic Johnson | Michigan State | Ronnie Lester | Iowa | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| Associated Press | Sidney Moncrief | Arkansas | Calvin Natt | Northeast Louisiana | Sly Williams | Rhode Island | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| USBWA | Larry Bird | Indiana State | Calvin Natt | Northeast Louisiana | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams |
| USBWA | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | Mike O'Koren | North Carolina | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams |
| USBWA | Mike Gminski | Duke | Jim Paxson | Dayton | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams |
| USBWA | Magic Johnson | Michigan State | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams |
| USBWA | Sidney Moncrief | Arkansas | Sly Williams | Rhode Island | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams | No third or fourth teams |
| NABC | Larry Bird | Indiana State | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | Joe Barry Carroll | Purdue | Danny Ainge | Brigham Young |
| NABC | Mike Gminski | Duke | Reggie King | Alabama | Darrell Griffith | Louisville | James Bailey | Rutgers |
| NABC | David Greenwood | UCLA | Mike O'Koren | North Carolina | Ronnie Lester | Iowa | Calvin Natt | Northeast Louisiana |
| NABC | Magic Johnson | Michigan State | Jim Spanarkel | Duke | Kyle Macy | Kentucky | Bernard Toone | Marquette |
| NABC | Sidney Moncrief | Arkansas | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame | Jim Paxson | Dayton | Mike Woodson | Indiana |
| UPI | Larry Bird | Indiana State | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | James Bailey | Rutgers | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| UPI | Mike Gminski | Duke | Darrell Griffith | Louisville | Gene Banks | Duke | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| UPI | David Greenwood | UCLA | Sidney Moncrief | Arkansas | Ronnie Lester | Iowa | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| UPI | Magic Johnson | Michigan State | Mike O'Koren | North Carolina | Kelvin Ransey | Ohio State | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
| UPI | Jim Spanarkel | Duke | Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame | Sly Williams | Rhode Island | No fourth team | No fourth team | No fourth team |
AP Honorable Mention:
* Mark Aguirre, DePaul
* James Bailey, Rutgers
* Gene Banks, Duke
* Kim Belton, Stanford
* Rolando Blackman, Kansas State
* Roosevelt Bouie, Syracuse
* Brad Branson, SMU
* Michael Brooks, La Salle
* Matt Brown, Army
* Lawrence Butler, Idaho State
* Terence Carney, Pacific
* Sam Clancy, Pittsburgh
* Elbert Darden, Rice
* Larry Demic, Arizona
* Joe DeSantis, Fairfield
* Sammy Drummer, Georgia Tech
* Terry Duerod, Detroit
* Nikos Galis, Seton Hall
* Larry Gibson, Maryland
* Kim Goetz, San Diego State
* Michael Gray, Nevada
* Al Green, LSU
* Darrell Griffith, Louisville
* Brad Holland, UCLA
* Cheese Johnson, Wichita State
* Reggie Johnson, Tennessee
* Steve Johnson, Oregon State
* Albert King, Maryland
* Wayne Kreklow, Drake
* Jim Krivacs, Texas
* Jeff Lamp, Virginia
* Emmett Lewis, Colorado
* Kyle Macy, Kentucky
* Ollie Matson, Pepperdine
* John McCullough, Oklahoma
* Keith McDonald, Utah State
* Mike Niles, Cal State Fullerton
* Mike O'Koren, North Carolina
* Jim Paxson, Dayton
* Ron Perry, Holy Cross
* Tony Price, Penn
* Rick Raivio, Portland
* Kelvin Ransey, Ohio State
* Ricky Reed, Temple
* Cliff Robinson, USC
* Jeff Ruland, Iona
* DeWayne Scales, LSU
* Craig Shelton, Georgetown
* Jim Spanarkel, Duke
* John Stroud, Ole Miss
* Londale Theus, Santa Clara
* Bernard Toone, Marquette
* Darnell Valentine, Kansas
* Ronnie Valentine, Old Dominion
* Ren Watson, VCU
* Hawkeye Whitney, NC State
* Herb Williams, Ohio State
* Rudy Woods, Texas A&M

## Academic All-Americans

On March 21, 1979, CoSIDA announced the 1979 Academic All-America team. The following is the 1978–79 Academic All-America Men's Basketball Team as selected by CoSIDA:
Academic All-America Team :
| Player | School | Class |
| Mike Gminski | Duke | Junior |
| Greg Kelser | Michigan State | Senior |
| Jim Krivacs | Texas | Senior |
| Kyle Macy | Kentucky | Senior |
| Jim Paxson | Dayton | Senior |
| Ron Perry | Holy Cross | Junior |
| Jim Spanarkel | Duke | Senior |
| Kelly Tripucka | Notre Dame | Sophomore |
| Darnell Valentine | Kansas | Sophomore |
| Kiki Vandeweghe | UCLA | Junior |