Monday morning brought another national recognition for Minnesota sophomore Daniel Oturu, as the National Association of Basketball Coaches voted him to its All-District 7 First Team. The group is selected by head coaches in the Big Ten Conference, and comprised of a first and second team.

Oturu was named a Sporting News and CBS Sports All-America Third Team honoree, as well as a Associated Press All-America honorable mention. At the conference level, Oturu has earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors from the coaches and media, along with Big Ten All-Defensive Team recognition and a spot on the USBWA All-District Team.
Oturu put together one of the finest seasons in Minnesota basketball history. The Woodbury, Minn., native averaged 20.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while blocking 2.5 shots per contest, figures which ranked second, first and first in the conference respectively. Oturu’s field goal percentage of 56.3 was also tops in the conference, while he was second with 18 double-doubles on the year. He set a new school record with 226 rebounds in Big Ten play, besting Jordan Murphy’s year-old mark of 218, and posted the second-best scoring average among Gopher sophomores, behind Mychal Thompson’s mark of 25.9 points per game.

He reached double digits in scoring in all but one game, tallying 17 games with 20-plus points and twice eclipsing the 30-point mark. Oturu, who started every game, ranked fourth in the conference and tops among big men in minutes played.
The NABC All-America teams will be announced at a later date.