2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards

Most people have Ben Simmons pegged as the number 1 player in the draft, but it has been decided he was not the number 1 player in the SEC this year.  Yesterday, Tyler Ulis was announced SEC Player of the Year as the SEC announced this year’s winners of the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards.  Coming into this season, expectations were high for Ulis since he stayed behind as all of his teammates seemed to head to the draft last year.  After a rough start by Big Blue standards, Tyler Ulis and company turned things around.  Ulis finished the regular season averaging 16.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.  Don’t forget he leads the team in steals per game, averaging 1.4.  Those steals earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

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Ben Simmons is hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year after winning the award himself this year.  Karl-Anthony Towns was named  SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All SEC in 2015.  The end result was “KAT” being taken number 1 overall, and that is where Ben Simmons has been projected in the overwhelming majority of mock drafts.

Quite the opposite of Mr. Simmons, Retin Obasohan earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and managed to be named First Team All-SEC.

Let us not forgot these awards are voted on the by the coaches, so the biggest honor of all may be winning SEC Coach of the Year.  That award goes to Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy after leading his Aggies to a 24-7 regular season record.

All of the awards announced yesterday are listed below and taken from secsports.com.

First Team All-SEC

Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium

Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario

Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.

Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia

Stefan Moody, Ole Miss – G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.

Michael Carrera, South Carolina – F, 6-5, 214, Sr., Anzoátegui, Venezuela

Jalen Jones, Texas A&M – G/F, 6-7, 220, Sr., Dallas, Texas

Damian Jones, Vanderbilt – C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.

Second Team All-SEC

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria

Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida – F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.

J.J. Frazier, Georgia – 5-10, 155, G, Jr., Glennville, Ga.

Yante Maten, Georgia – 6-8, 240, F, So., Pontiac, Mich.

Kevin Punter Jr., Tennessee – G, 6-2, 190, Sr., Bronx, N.Y.

Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

Danuel House, Texas A&M – G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas

Wade Baldwin IV, Vanderbilt – G, 6-3, 194, So., Belle Mead, N.J.

SEC All-Freshman Team

KeVaughn Allen, Florida – G, 6-2, 183, Fr., Little Rock, Ark.

Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario

Antonio Blakeney, LSU – G, 6-4, 190, Fr., Sarasota, Fla.

Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia

Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State – G, 6-4, 202, Fr., Canton, Miss.

Kevin Puryear, Missouri – F, 6-7, 236, Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.

Tyler Davis, Texas A&M – C, 6-10, 265, Fr., Plano, Texas

DJ Hogg, Texas A&M – F, 6-8, 216, Fr., Plano, Texas

SEC All-Defensive Team

Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria

Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.

Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina – G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Lancaster, S.C.

Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt – F, 7-1, 240, Jr., Lantana, Texas

SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M

SEC Player of the Year:  Tyler Ulis, Kentucky

SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Retin Obasohan, Alabama

SEC Freshman of the Year:  Ben Simmons, LSU

SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Duane Notice, South Carolina

SEC Defensive Player of the Year:  Tyler Ulis, Kentucky

All information and stats taken from www.secsports.com.