Tulsa’s Martins Igbanu Named AAC First Team Selection, Brandon Rachal Earns Third Team Honors

PROVIDENCE, RI –– Two University of Tulsa basketball players were named American Athletic Conference all-league selections, it was announced today by the AAC office. Martins Igbanu earned first-team honors, while Brandon Rachal was a third-team selection in a vote by the league's coaches.

The tandem is the seventh and eighth Golden Hurricane players to earn American Athletic Conference postseason honors since joining the league six years ago. Igbanu is the first Tulsa player to receive first-team accolades since James Woodard in the 2015-16 campaign.

Igbanu and Rachal helped lead Tulsa to a first-place tie for the regular season American Athletic Conference Championship.

A 6'8" forward, Igbanu averaged a team-leading 13.6 points, while adding 5.0 rebounds this season. He also led the Hurricane in field goal percentage at 56 percent, while converting nearly 70-percent of his free throws.

Igbanu came on strong in conference play as the senior increased his totals in 18 league games to 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 61-percent shooting from the field and 70-percent from the free throw line. He scored 20+ points six times in the last 12 games, while tallying a career-high 30 points against UCF. Igbanu also had games of 29, 28, 24, 23 and 20 points during that span.

From Lagos, Nigeria, by way of Covenant Christian Ministries Academy in Georgia, Igbanu totaled 19 double-figure scoring games and three double-doubles this season.

Rachal, from Natchitoches, Louisiana, is in his first season at Tulsa after transferring from Pearl River (Miss.) Community College. He scored at a 12.1 clip and had team-highs of 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 30 games.

The 6'6" guard/forward, Rachal led Tulsa with four double-doubles and 20 double-figure scoring games. He also led Tulsa in scoring seven times, rebounding and steals 11 times and blocked shots 13 times. Rachal scored 20+ points four times and had a career-best 30 points early in the season against Austin Peay University.

The American Athletic Conference will announce its individual award winners on Wednesday.

            All-Conference First Team
            Jarron Cumberland, Sr., G, Cincinnati
            Trevon Scott, R-Sr., F, Cincinnati
            Christian Vital, Sr., G, UConn
            Precious Achiuwa, Fr., F, Memphis*
            Martins Igbanu, Sr., F, Tulsa

            All-Conference Second Team
            Jayden Gardner, So., F, ECU
            Nate Hinton, So., G, Houston
            Caleb Mills, R-Fr., G, Houston
            Quinton Rose, Sr., G, Temple
            Jaime Echenique, Sr., C, Wichita State

            All-Conference Third Team
            James Bouknight, Fr., G, UConn
            Kendric Davis, So., G, SMU
            Tyson Jolly, Jr., G, SMU
            Isiaha Mike, Jr., F, SMU
            Brandon Rachal, Jr., G, Tulsa

            All-Freshman Team
            James Bouknight, G, UConn*
            Caleb Mills, G, Houston*
            Marcus Sasser, G, Houston
            Precious Achiuwa, F, Memphis*
            Lester Quinones, G, Memphis

            * denotes unanimous selection

Tulsa’s Martins Igbanu Named AAC First Team Selection, Brandon Rachal Earns Third Team Honors

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Martins Igbanu

Brandon Rachal

James Woodard

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