Jefferson Earns First Team All-American Honors From The Sporting News

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State senior Joshua Jefferson has been named a First Team All-American by The Sporting News.

Jefferson becomes the 31^st All-American in program history, while it is the third-straight year a Cyclone has earned All-American honors under T.J. Otzelberger. The Sporting News is one of the four All-America selectors comprising the official NCAA consensus team, joining the Associated Press, NABC and USBWA. Jefferson joins Gary Thompson (1957 – AP) and Marcus Fizer (2000 – AP) as the only three Cyclones to be named to the first team by one of the four primary outlets.

Earlier this week, Jefferson became the 18^th player in program history to be named to the all-conference first or second team multiple times, as he was an All-Big 12 First Team selection. He has been named to the Wood Award Top 15, the Naismith Trophy Top 30 and the Karl Malone Award Top 10.

Jefferson was Mr. Do-It-All once again for the Cyclones, as he became the first player in Big 12 history to turn in multiple triple-doubles in Big 12 play. He's averaging 16.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5. assists and 1.6 steals per game. He's the only Power Conference player in the country to average those numbers. Only five players have done so in an entire season in the country going back to 1974-75, with no one in the Big 12 having accomplished it. Jefferson has scored in double figures in all 31 games this season, while his streak of 37-straight games going back to last season ranks as the fourth-longest in the nation.

Joining Jefferson on the first team were AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Darius Acuff of Arkansas, Cameron Boozer of Duke and Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan.

The Cyclones return to action Wednesday morning, as fifth-seeded Iowa State faces 12th-seeded Arizona State in the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament Second Round at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. on ESPN.

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