UCLA guard Lonzo Ball has earned Freshman of the Year honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), as announced Sunday at the annual AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show.
 
A consensus first-team All-America selection, Ball averaged 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game as a freshman. He set the school single-season assists record (274), the second-highest mark in Pac-12 history behind Ahlon Lewis' total of 294 assists at Arizona State in 1997-98.
 
Ball became UCLA's first player selected as a first-team AP All-American since Kevin Love was a freshman for the Bruins in 2007-08. The 6-foot-6 guard from Chino Hills, Calif., has already been named one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award.
 
Sunday's announcement by the NABC comes after Ball has already earned National Freshman of the Year acclaim by USA Today, Sporting News, CBS Sports and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
 
One of six UCLA players to have averaged double-figure scoring in 2016-17, Ball helped lead the Bruins to a 31-5 overall record and a 15-3 mark in Pac-12 play. UCLA concluded its regular season with a program-record-tying 28 wins before advancing to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons.
 
The NABC named Kansas guard Frank Mason III as the National Player of the Year and Gonzaga's Mark Few as the nation's Coach of the Year during its awards show on Sunday, April 2, at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix.