Underclass All-American is an
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...
for high school and
college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given class other than the senior class. These athletes are considered
All-American
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
s for their class and are termed Junior All-Americans, Sophomore All-Americans and Freshman All-Americans or All-Freshman, All-Sophomore and All-Junior honorees.
High school basketball
Annually, ''
ESPN HS
''ESPN HS'' was a high school sports magazine published monthly during the school year in 25 markets around the United States. Founded as ''SchoolSports'' magazine in 1997, the publication changed its name to ''RISE'' in 2006 and was purchased ...
'' (formerly ''ESPN RISE'') selected 30 juniors, 20 sophomores, and 10 freshmen as boys' high school basketball Underclass All-Americans.
MaxPreps.com also chooses annual underclass All-American teams.
These teams were called the Junior All-American Team, the Sophomore All-American Team and the Freshman All-American Team.
High school football
''ESPN HS'' chooses 25 non-senior high school football players as its Underclass All-Americans. ''MaxPreps'' selects an Underclass All-American team for juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, naming a national player of the year for each grade.
College basketball
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA)
Division I men's college basketball Freshman All-American teams are chosen annually by rotating selectors. For the
2011–12 NCAA Division I season, ''
Sporting News
''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
'' chose a Freshman All-American team. For the
2010–11 season,
Collegeinsider.com chose a Freshman All-American team.
College football
''
College Football News
''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...
'' (''CFN'') chooses annual NCAA Division I men's college football Freshman All-American teams that it calls All-Freshman teams.
In some years, ''CFN'' has chosen NCAA Division I men's college football Sophomore All-American teams.
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
,
247Sports
247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount.
The website hosts a large ...
,
Pro Football Focus
Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...
,
FWAA,
Maxwell Football Club
The Robert W. Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 in sports#American football, 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Tiny Maxwell, Robert ...
, On3 and
The Athletic
''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...
also publish Freshman All-American selections.
College baseball
''
Collegiate Baseball
''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...
'' presents the annual NCAA Division I men's college baseball
Louisville Slugger
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
Freshmen All-American team.
Notes
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College sports All-Americans
High school sports in the United States
Student athlete awards in the United States