Clancy Is Second Team All-American

Once again, Sam Clancy found out about an honor that he was to receive by hearing of it first from a relative.

Last week, Clancy’s sister, Samantha, called him on his cell phone to congratulate her big brother on being named the Pacific 10 Conference player of the year minutes before the league announced it at a banquet.

Tuesday, as the USC senior forward disembarked from the plane at the Sacramento airport, Clancy’s mother, Anetta Harris, called him on his cell phone.

She told Clancy that he had been named second-team All-American by the Associated Press.

“My sister actually called my mom and told her first,” said Clancy, in Sacramento with USC preparing for the Trojans’ first-round NCAA tournament game against North Carolina Wilmington on Thursday.

“She’s an Internet junkie.”

Maybe so, but Clancy is racking up the awards.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior is USC’s first All-American in 10 years, joining Harold Miner, who was named as a junior in 1992.

Clancy has also been named a second-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Assn. and a third-team All-American by the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches.

But the AP team is the most prestigious.

“It’s nice that once again people are recognizing me and my accomplishments,” said Clancy, averaging 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.

“My mom was asking me if I get a plaque for it. I think so.”

USC Coach Henry Bibby said Clancy deserves any hardware.

“He’s had a great year,” Bibby said. “Like I said before, he’s carried this team all year.”

North Carolina Wilmington feels USC’s pain when it comes to last-second losses.

Three of the Seahawks’ losses this season came during the game’s final possession, including Wake Forest’s Darius Songalia’s basket with two seconds remaining to give the Demon Deacons a 79-78 win in the preseason National Invitation Tournament.

USC, which has played in 11 NCAA tournaments, is in its second consecutive tournament for the second time since 1991-92. The only other time the Trojans had played in back-to-back NCAA tournaments was in 1960-61.

North Carolina Wilmington is playing in its second NCAA tournament.

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The 2001-02 Associated Press men’s All-American basketball team:

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