SEC Basketball: Men’s Postseason Coaches Awards Announced
The SEC basketball men’s postseason awards were announced this week, including the All-SEC teams and Player/Coach of the Year honors.
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In what has been a historic year for basketball in the SEC, choosing All-SEC teams and yearly postseason honors had to be a difficult task for the coaches in the conference, but for some of the awards there could only be one choice.
Two words sum up the bulk of the honors, however…
Big Blue.
Kentucky Wilcats coach John Calipari earned his second SEC Coach of the Year award, UK power forward Willie Cauley-Stein was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Karl-Anthony Towns was honored as SEC Freshman of the Year and Devin Booker was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year by the leagues coaches.
Not surprising coming from a team that went 31-0 in what was a pretty grueling schedule. Kentucky’s 31 wins to open the season are the most in SEC history. The Wildcats earned their third SEC championship under Calipari, and the 46th in UK history.
Dec 20, 2014; North Little Rock, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Bobby Portis (10) during the game against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Verizon Arena. Razorbacks defeated Redhawks 84-67. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
But one of the big awards stayed out of the hands of Big Blue, as Arkansas sophomore forward Bobby Portis was selected the SEC Player of the Year, averaging 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on the season. He became the first Razorback to win the award since Corliss Williamson won back-to-back POY honors in 1994 and 1995.
Alabama guard Levi Randolph was honored with the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, carrying a 3.45 undergraduate grade-point average and a 3.75 graduate level grade point average in Marketing. He’s the first Academic All-American in Alabama men’s basketball history.
Here is the complete list of All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, All-Defensive team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman, Defensive, Sixth-Man and Scholar-Athlete of the Year as chosen by the league’s 14 coaches.
First Team All-SEC
Bobby Portis, Arkansas – F, 6-11, 242, So., Little Rock, Ark.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky – F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky – F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.
Jarell Martin, LSU – F, 6-10, 236, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Jordan Mickey, LSU – F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Stefan Moody, Ole Miss – G, 5-10, 179, Jr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Josh Richardson, Tennessee – G, 6-6, 200, Sr., Edmond, Okla.
Danuel House, Texas A&M – G, 6-7, 207, Jr., Fresno, Texas
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt –C, 6-10, 240, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Second Team All-SEC
Levi Randolph, Alabama – G, 6-5, 210, Sr., Madison, Ala.
Michael Qualls, Arkansas – G, 6-6, 210, Jr., Shreveport, La.
KT Harrell, Auburn – G, 6-4, 212, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida – F, 6-8, 218, Jr., Portsmouth, Va.
Marcus Thornton, Georgia – F, 6-8, 235, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Devin Booker, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 206, Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Aaron Harrison, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 212, So., Richmond, Texas
Craig Sword, Mississippi State – G, 6-3, 194, Jr., Montgomery, Ala.
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M – G/F, 6-7, 223, Jr., Dallas, Texas
SEC All-Freshman Team
Anton Beard, Arkansas – G, 6-0, 190, Fr., North Little Rock, Ark.
Devin Robinson, Florida – F, 6-8, 178, Fr., Chesterfield, Va.
Devin Booker, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 206, Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Trey Lyles, Kentucky – F, 6-10, 235, Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky – F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 155, Fr., Lima, Ohio
Wade Baldwin IV, Vanderbilt – G, 6-3, 195, Fr., Belle Mead, N.J.
Riley LaChance, Vanderbilt – G, 6-2, 194, Fr., Brookfield, Wisc.
SEC All-Defensive Team
Marcus Thornton, Georgia – F, 6-8, 235, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky – F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Jordan Mickey, LSU – F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Josh Richardson, Tennessee – G, 6-6, 200, Sr., Edmond, Okla.
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt –C, 6-10, 240, So., Baton Rouge, La.
SEC Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky
SEC Player of the Year: Bobby Portis, Arkansas
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Levi Randolph, Alabama
SEC Freshman of the Year: Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Devin Booker, Kentucky
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Next: Who Will Survive First 2 Rounds of SEC Tourney?
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