UK's Labissiere, Murray receive preseason honors

University of Kentucky freshmen Skal Labissiere and Jamal Murray were tabbed college basketball preseason All-Americans by Sporting News on Monday.

Labissiere received second-team honors, joining Providence's Kris Dunn, Indiana's Yogi Ferrell, Kansas' Wayne Seldon and Wichita State's Fred VanVleet. Murray was named a member of the third team with Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, LSU's Ben Simmons, Maryland's Melo Trimble and Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer -- a member of UK's 2012 national championship team.

The first team consists of Wichita State's Ron Baker, Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon, Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes, Iowa State's Georges Niang and North Carolina's Marcus Paige.

Per Sporting News' Michael DeCourcy, "Jamal Murray seems the most ready to break out, but Labissiere's production seems to be the most necessary. Whether he will be ready to provide it will depend on how quickly he is able to adapt to coach John Calipari's demands and the next level of competition."

Regarding Murray, DeCourcy added: "It was hard not to find some place on this team for Murray after his series of dizzying performances in international competition since April. First it was his 30-point performance against the U.S. in high schoolers in the Nike Hoop Summit. But it was his play for Canada at the Pan-American Games nearly earned him a spot on the nation's Olympic qualifying team."

The honors mark the first preseason accolades for the 2015-16 Cats.