An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.^[1] The 1986 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and United Press International (UPI) for the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors chose at least a first and second 5-man team. The AP and UPI chose third teams, while NABC selected a fourth team as well; AP also lists honorable mention selections.

The Consensus 1986 College Basketball All-American team is determined by aggregating the results of the four major All-American teams.^[2] To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the different All-American teams.

AP Honorable Mention:^[7][8]