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University of Akron senior men's basketball player Enrique Freeman is an All-American
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- University of Akron senior men's basketball player Enrique Freeman is an All-American
University of Akron senior men's basketball player Enrique Freeman added another accolade to his resume Tuesday night. The nation's leading rebounder was named to the Associated Press All-America Team as an Honorable Mention.
Freeman helped lead Akron to a Mid-American Conference Tournament championship last week in his hometown of Cleveland, where the Zips earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament .
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Akron (24-10) meets Creighton (23-9) in the first round at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Akron's Enrique Freeman (25) celebrates with teammate Mikal Dawson (22) during the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game Saturday in Cleveland.
Freeman becomes Akron's third honorable mention AP All-American since 2007 — joining Romeo Travis (2006-07) and Isaiah Johnson (20016-17). He is the 16th player overall in program history to achieve All-America status.
Last week, Freeman was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, All-MAC First Team, All-MAC Defensive Team, All-MAC Tournament Team and MAC Tournament MVP.
Freeman was named MAC Player of the Week eight times this season. He is among the final five finalists for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year and is on the Oscar Robertson Award All-America Watchlist.
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Freeman is averaging 18.6 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.6 assists and 0.8 steals per game this season.
Freeman became Akron's all-time leader in rebounds this season along with being No. 2 in career blocks and No. 3 in all-time scoring. He is also one double-double away from tying the NCAA single-season record of 31 set by David Robinson from Navy in 1986.
Freeman enters the NCAA Tournament with an NCAA-best 30 double-doubles this season, and is the only player in the MAC to average a double-double. He is one of 15 players in Division I college basketball to average a double-double and has totaled 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in 15 of Akron's 34 games.
He recorded 11 consecutive double-doubles from Nov. 28 to Jan. 16 and 15 double-doubles in a row from Jan. 23 through March 15.
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Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron men's basketball player Enrique Freeman is an All-American
