HOUSTON – University of Houston senior point guard Jamal Shead added to his 2023-24 trophy case when he was recognized as an All-America First-Team selection by the Associated Press on Tuesday morning.
Shead was the 27th student-athlete to earn All-America honors in program history. He also became the third Cougar in the last four years to receive the recognition, joining guards Marcus Sasser (2022-23) and Quentin Grimes (2020-21).
This was only the latest All-America honors for Shead in 2023-24. He recently was named to the Field of 68 and The Sporting News All-America First Teams.
This marked the third time in school history in which a Cougar received AP All-America First-Team honors in consecutive seasons and just the second time with two different student-athletes.
Guard Marcus Sasser and current Detroit Piston was an AP First-Team All-American in 2022-23. Hall of Fame forward Elvin Hayes collected back-to-back All-America First Team honors from 1966 to 1968.
Shead has been a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season.
This is only the latest honor for Shead. He recently was named Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors, becoming the first player in league history to collect both awards in the same season.
The Manor, Texas, native stands second among the Cougars with 13.1 points per game. Shead also leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (6.2, 3rd), steals per game (2.3, 3rd) and assist-turnover ratio (3.15, 2nd).
Shead is the only student-athlete to rank among the nation’s Top-20 leaders in all three categories.
He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice during the regular season and was recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for Feb. 26 and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for Jan. 23.
Shead has scored double-digit points in 25 games, including 11 of the last 12 . He also dished out 10+ assists in four games this season with a career-high 29-point, 10-assist performance at #21/19 BYU on Jan. 23. He is the only Cougar to record points-rebounds AND points-assists double-doubles in 2023-24.
This also was the second straight season in his second different league in which Shead was named Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He joined forward and Houston great Bo Outlaw as the only Cougars to win consecutive honors.
Shead owns a 118-17 record in more than three seasons during his Houston career and needs only four more victories in 2023-24 to become the winningest player in school history.
Shead and the No. 1 seed Cougars tip off in the NCAA Tournament South Region First Round when they meet (16) Longwood at 8:20 p.m., Friday, inside FedExForum, Tenn. That game will air on TNT. All Houston Men’s Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.