Bucannon Named AP First-Team All-American

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State senior safety Deone Bucannon was named an First-Team All-American by the Associated Press, announced Tuesday. Bucannon was also named to the All-America Third Team by CBS Sports and Honorable Mention All-America from Sports Illustrated.

Bucannon is the first Cougar to earn All-American first-team honors since Jerome Harrison in 2005 and the first defensive player since defensive tackle Rien Long in 2002. Last week, Bucannon received second team All-America honors from Walter Camp and first team accolades from Athlon Sports. The 6-1, 215-pound defensive back was voted an All-Pac-12 First Team selection by the conference’s coaches.

Bucannon, a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist given to the nation’s best defensive back, led the Pac-12 Conference with 109 tackles, tied for fourth in the conference with five interceptions and tied for team-highs with three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. The Fairfield, Calif. native enters the Gildan New Mexico Bowl as the NCAA’s active leader in career solo tackles, tied for second in career interceptions and fifth in career tackles. His 14 career interceptions are tied for third-most in school history while his 379 career tackles are fourth-most win WSU history.

Bucannon’s 109 stops are the most by a Cougar since James Darling recorded 136 in 1996 and follows a 106 tackle campaign in 2012, giving him the first back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since Billy Newman in 1999-2000. Bucannon recorded four double-digit tackles performances this season and owns 16 in his career. His best games this season came against the toughest opponents, making 14 stops, forcing a fumble and recovering another in the season opener at Auburn, posting eight tackles in the win at USC, tallying nine tackles and an interception against Stanford, recording nine tackles, forcing a fumble he also recovered against Oregon, making 12 stops and picking off a pass against Arizona State before tallying 11 tackles in the win at Arizona.

He was named a Midseason All-American by Sports Illustrated and to the Midseason All-America second team by CBS Sports.