SEC basketball’s brightest stars shined bright this March, but who stood out the most?
SEC Basketball’s brightest stars from March Madness
Eric Musselman
Four Sweet Sixteen’s in the past five tournaments. Six tournament appearances. 69.4% win at Arkansas. Recruiting success. Eric Musselman is the gift that keeps on giving to Razorback fans! He has established a strong culture and identity in Fayetteville, and he has the Hogs seated comfortably at the table of the SEC’s elites. After overcoming a 12-point second half deficit against the reigning champs and promptly removing his polo, Musselman intensely cemented himself as a force in this conference. A tough matchup with a fiery, dominant UConn Husky team should not undermine what this individual was able to achieve once again in this tournament.
Jahvon Quinerly
Out of a large pool of SEC talent participating in March Madness, this may be the single best and most consistent player of the last three weeks. Quinerly took a long path to get here, starting close to his home at Villanova. He stayed patient after deciding to transfer and waited behind multiple NBA point guards, and that led him to this point, where he led the #1 overall seed on their championship journey. Sadly, the Tide came up short against the nation’s best overall defense in SDSU. However, a tournament average of 15 points, less than two turnovers, a steal, and three assists per game gives Quinerly a performance he can reflect on and feel extremely proud of.
Oscar Tshiebwe
They only played in 2 games, but Tshiebwe still had no problem grabbing over 40 rebounds. He puts on a clinic rebounding the ball and is a man amongst boys grabbing misses in the paint. Combine that with sixteen points, a block, and two steals per game, and you essentially have your perfect collegiate big man for March Madness. Unfortunately, his group ran into one of this year’s teams of destiny in the Kansas State Wildcats. Markquis Nowell’s heroics proved to be too much for Big Blue Nation. However, there are not enough positive things to say about how Tsheibwe’s raw ability and intensity put his team in a position to win any game on any night.