Kentucky's Billy Gillispie and Tennessee's Bruce Pearl shared SEC Coach of the Year honors and Vanderbilt senior guard/forward Shan Foster was selected SEC Player of the Year by the league's coaches.
Florida's Nick Calathes and Kentucky's Patrick Patterson shared the SEC Freshman of the Year award and Georgia's Dave Bliss earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State was a unanimous pick as SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Tennessee's J.P. Prince earned SEC's Sixth Man of the Year honors.
Gillispie led Kentucky to a second place finish in the SEC East Division and a first-round bye at the SEC Tournament after starting the season 6-7. Pearl led Tennessee to their first No. 1 ranking in school history and UT's first outright SEC Championship since 1967.
Foster garnered SEC Player of the Year honors in leading Vanderbilt to a 25 win season and a 10-6 mark in SEC play. Foster was also a unanimous All-SEC First Team selection. He led the league in scoring with 20.6 ppg.
Calathes leads the SEC in assists. Among SEC Freshmen, he ranks first in steals, third in scoring and fifth in rebounding. Patterson ranks in the Top 10 in both scoring (ninth) and rebounding (seventh).
Among SEC Freshmen, he ranks second in scoring and rebounding. Calathes and Patterson were among six unanimous All-Freshman team members.
Bliss earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sporting a 3.45 grade-point average in Political Science and Real Estate.
Varnado leads the nation in blocked shots (4.8) and is 13 blocks shy of the SEC record held by Shaquille O'Neal.
Prince won the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year award. Part of UT's deep bench, Prince chimes in with 8.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game..
A complete list of the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball postseason awards follows.
FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Richard Hendrix, Alabama* F 6-8 265 JR Athens,
Ala.
Sonny Weems, Arkansas F 6-6 203 SR West Memphis,
Ark.
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky -- 6-2 191 SR New York, N.Y.
Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State# G/F 6-4 230 JR
Nashville, Tenn.
Charles Rhodes, Mississippi State F/C 6-8 245 SR
Jackson, Miss.
Devan Downey, South Carolina G 5-9 175 SO Chester,
S.C.
Chris Lofton, Tennessee* G 6-2 200 SR
Maysville, Ky.
Tyler Smith, Tennessee F 6-7 215 SO Pulaski, Tenn.
Shan Foster, Vanderbilt# G/F 6-6 205 SR Kenner,
La.
SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Nick Calathes, Florida G/F 6-6 185 FR Casselberry,
Fla.
Sundiata Gaines, Georgia G 6-1 210 SR Jamaica,
N.Y.
Joe Crawford, Kentucky -- 6-5 207 SR Detroit, Mich.
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky -- 6-8 232 FR
Huntington, W.Va.
Marcus Thornton, LSU G 6-4 190 JR Baton Rouge, La.
Dwayne Curtis, Ole Miss C 6-8 262 SR Chicago, Ill.
JaJuan Smith, Tennessee G 6-2 195 SR Cleveland, Tenn.
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt C 6-11 250 FR Sydney,
Australia
SEC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Nick Calathes, Florida# G/F 6-6 185 Casselberry, Fla.
Jai Lucas, Florida# G 5-11 150 Bellaire, Texas
Chandler Parsons, Florida* F 6-9 200 Casselberry,
Fla.
Jeremy Price, Georgia F 6-8 270 Decatur, Ga.
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky# -- 6-8 232 Huntington,
W.Va.
Anthony Randolph, LSU# F 6-10 190 Dallas, Texas
Trevor Gaskins, Ole Miss* G 6-2 203 Alpharetta, Ga.
Chris Warren, Ole Miss# G 5-10 170 Orlando, Fla.
Mike Holmes, South Carolina* F 6-7 230 Bishopville,
S.C.
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt# C 6-11 250 Sydney,
Australia
SEC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Steven Hill, Arkansas F/C 7-0, 245, SR, Branson, Mo.
Sundiata Gaines, Georgia G 6-1, 210, SR, Jamaica, N.Y.
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky -- 6-2, 191, SR, New York, N.Y.
Garrett Temple, LSU G 6-6, 185, JR, Baton Rouge, La.
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State F/C 6-9, 210, SO,
Brownsville, Tenn.
JaJuan Smith, Tennessee G 6-2, 195, SR, Cleveland, Tenn.
SEC CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
Billy Gillispie, Kentucky
Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Shan Foster, Vanderbilt
SEC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Dave Bliss, Georgia
SEC CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR
Nick Calathes, Florida
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
SEC SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
J.P. Prince, Tennessee
SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State#
#-Unanimous Selection; *-Ties are not broken
Cordarrelle Patterson drafted by the…
Oregon sends Lady Vols home from…
Dan Proctor draws Tennessee Football…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 96
King53 writes:
congratulations coach pearl and vols!!
bigbluevol writes:
Wow...so they're rewarding Gillespie for SEC co-coach of the year. Essentially, they're rewarding him because of the coaching he did to overcome such a poor start. A start, by the way, that could be attributable to poor coaching at the beginning of the year. Does he get co-honors as best and worst coach of the year also? At least JaJuan got some much deserved recognition.
TommyJack writes:
Bruce wuz mugged.
GreerVol22 writes:
Nuthin' but nice! but the real awards are still out there.
GreerVol22 writes:
Nuthin' but nice! but the real awards are still out there.
GreerVol22 writes:
Nuthin' but nice! but the real awards are still out there.
BDavis writes:
Its a joke to mention Gillespie in the same sentence as Bruce Pearl. They should have included JaJuan Smith as the 10th player on the first team.
HotlantaVol writes:
Greer, you can say that again . . . again . . . again . . .
piperkoby writes:
Anyone else see the absolute brilliance of Pearl voting for Stansberry of Miss. State for coach of the year AND finding valid reasons to justify it so that one less vote would go to Gillespie? He basically won himself Coach of the Year!
This guy is sharp as a tack!
GerryOP writes:
I am biased and think that Pearl should be Coach of the Year, Coach of the Decade (so far), and Coach of the Century (so far)! But, in reality and begrudgingly, Gillespie did a whale of a job turning that team around.
Congrats to all of the guys who picked up awards!
VolBall writes:
I have to agree with BDavis. No way can/should Gillespie be mentioned in same breath with Pearl.
Pearl has single handedly adjusted the pecking order in the SEC. KY will be playing second or third fiddle for many many years to come.
If your a stud highschool basketball recruit, whom would you rather play for to showcase your talents and improve your skills for NBA consideration: Pearl or Gillespie? Enough said!
kepvol writes:
Wow. This shows me how much the other coaches in the league really dislike Coach Pearl. This team spent a week at #1 and went 14-2 in the conference, yet 8 of the 12 coaches voted for someone other than him.
King30 writes:
Congratulations CBP, Chris, Tyler, Jajuan, and JP! You and your teammates have made this the most enjoyable UT basketball season ever.
Ramar, Wayne, Duke, Ryan, Brian, Josh, and Cameron...your time's coming!
Here's a good look at the selections:
http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&...
hueypilot writes:
Maybe just a little incentive for the Vols to win the rubber match and knock Kentucky down a notch or two. Helps that they don't have Patterson. I don't think Bruce expects other coaches to like him. He has been burned by that "fraternity" for most of his career. We had another coach that used to irritate the stew out of the other SEC coaches, most notably the man in the brown suit. He did pretty good and Vol fans liked him a lot, too.
IBleedOrange444 writes:
Way to go Juannie!! it was a long time commin', but he finally got some recognition. It's great to see his name on the list, especially for his defense.
volsfan92 writes:
printable SEC tournament bracket at
http://www.madduxsports.com/sec-tourn...
maybe a Staurday rematch with Vandy and Sunday rematch with Florida?
vol88 writes:
Here would be a great way to break the tie:
Let KENTUCKY fans vote which coach they would rather have, BP or Gillespie.
I'm thinking Bruce would have to make some room on his mantle.
Go Vols!
volsfan92 writes:
Congrats on the recognition CBP, #5, Tyler, Jajuan, and JP.....and everyone else for a fantastic season GO VOLS
volsfan92 writes:
Congrats on the recognition CBP, #5, Tyler, Jajuan, and JP.....and everyone else for a fantastic season GO VOLS
chipper10 writes:
You have got to be kidding me...
This shows you how much Pearl rubs his fellow coaches the wrong way. He should be coach of the year and it isn't even close.
I hope Pearl uses this as an insult and takes it out on everyone in the tournament this weekend. Pour it on and remind everyone who the top team in the conference is.
VolJunkie writes:
If you saw the piece on CBP on HBO Sports last night, that may be a reason why some coaches do not get along with Coach Pearl. IMHO he did the right thing (reporting recruiting violation at a rival school), gives me a lot of confidence about how he runs his program and speaks to his personal integrity. The more I learn about CBP the more impressed I am by his character and his committment to his players, his school and his community.
Congratulations to CBP and this historic UT team ... the best is definitely yet to come!
Go VOLS!!
govolsfan#214750 writes:
SEC player of the year should be the BEST player on the BEST team.
VolJunkie writes:
govolsfan ... of course that type of reasoning is "garbage" ... just kidding! Wanted to see if it sounded as lame coming from someone besides Stallings ... it does.
Go VOLS!!
BigOrngTyme writes:
I don't think it's that any of the other coaches in the SEC dislike Bruce, but the Vols did what they "should" have done, and that's win the SEC regular season title with the best team in the league. The only other option was to not live up to expectations, and lose the regular season title to a lesser team. No doubt this is why he got co-coach of the year along with Gillispie. I mean really, do you really think the Vols record would have been worse if Gillispie, Donovan, Stallings, or any other number of SEC coaches had them this year?
VolJunkie writes:
BigOrngTyme ... Yes.
Volchaz writes:
I find it hard to see what people see in the UK coach. Pearl was stellar ALL YEAR< not just against the SEC. We took the conference banner and went on the road, baby, even to Seattle. How did Billy represent us in their non-conference games? They probably are laughing today, at this article.
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
now piperboy why would you think it some kind of a ploy by BP to vote for stansbury and that it sincerely doesnt really believe it??????----its rediculous to think like that
ggriggs939#223122 writes:
It shows how well you are doing when there is so much envy among your peers that they try to knock you down by pretending you are not good. As I recall, one of the KY players did not begin playing until later in the year and then the team began to play better, thus the reason for the improvement was the return of the player instead of the coaching.
Reflecting the coaching they got, the VOLS played well throughout the season and also got better when Prince became eligible. There was just a steady improvement in overall performance as he gained experience with the team, not the jump from losing to winning as happened with KY.
This is the same as with Candace and the Lady VOLS.
The tournament will be a good opportunity to rub some noses.
Lofton4Three writes:
Ole Billy G will have a drink on that one. Someone needs to run down to the bar and let him know.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Jealous, I guess. Co-coach of the year - loses to Gardner-Webb!!!!!!!!!
How blatant can you get?
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
well, I posted this somewhere else;
COY: Pelphrey(sP); Burce did a great job, so no bad thing there. Gillespie?? You can't just 'throw aaway' the bad start.
POY: Remel Bradley; Foster just shot. He did not do well on the road. Bradley handled the ball, ran the team, played D, and scored. Without Bradely, UK is 8-8 or less, even with their damn home-cooking gym.
Kwitcherbellyachin writes:
Eh. I don't have a problem with any of these selections. It's about damned time that Jajuan Smith had some recognition. And like it or not, Gillespie has done some fine coaching since his team finally started listening to him.
The bottom line is this - banners, rings, and championships. Win the SEC tourney. Get a Final Four. The rest is irrelevant.
utvolz#637682 writes:
Congrats to all our most deserving award winners! Let's win some more hardware this year though.....starting in Hotlanta!
Frank in Miami
HawkeyeVol writes:
The HBO piece was great last night.
Pearl deserves not only the SEC Coach of the year but the NCAA Coach of the year. LOOK at the body of work...
The Man has the Passion and the Gumption to make TN an elite program for years to come
Thanks CBP, from someone who appreciates your history & drive.
BigOrngTyme writes:
Who cares about UK losing to Gardner Webb for crying out loud! We lost to that same team, and damn near done it again...at HOME!!! Forget the pre-conf games, that doesn't mean squat now! This isn't November, this is March. Everybody is going to be ready now, and the better teams are starting to show it. Our great regular season won't matter either if we get in the SEC & NCAA tourny and choke up again! That's what you're remembered for, but hey, I guess we can always talk about UK's loss to Gardner Webb huh??
SeanJean writes:
Freaking ridiculous. No way is Gillespie the coach of the year with Pearl. So stupid. What about Miss St? What about Vandy? What makes UK so special? They had a horrible start, with a lot of talent, and he plays well in the conference (as did Vandy and Miss St.) and gets rewarded essentially for starting so terribly? Ridiculous. Pearl loses 3 games all year and has to share it with this guy. Pathetic.
2 of 3 years now Pearl has been robbed of Coach of the Year. If you recall his first year when he lead UT to a #2 seed out of completely nowhere, they gave it to Brady from LSU who had 2 future first rounders.
Colliervol writes:
Gillespie has done a good job especially since Patterson went down but I think Coach of the Year should be for the entire body of work. And I ain't voting anybody Coach of the Year that lost to Gardner Webb, San Diego, Houston and UAB in the same year. (Especially somebody that coaches at Kentucky for goodness sake!) Sorry, that dog won't hunt.
vols1986 writes:
I have lost respect for those who votes on these things.. watching college basketball for 25 years this is the most idiotic thing I have ever seen... GO VOLS show these idiots what are made of...
Basketball_Jones writes:
You have to remember one thing about Kentucky and Gillespie, they played about their 1st 10 games w/out 2 starters. Can you imagine us going 10 straight without Jajuan and Tyler, we might win 5.
Overall its a great year for the Vols, wina few awards, win the SEC. They need to cap it off with a SEC Tournament Championship as well as a run at the Final 4
jandjhome#228397 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
DSaVol writes:
This is TOTAL bullsh*t! In BP's 1st year, when he brought the Vols from nowhere to win the East, and Brady won COY, the line that everybody put out was "the SEC traditionally votes it to the coach of the regular season champion." NOW, when BP WINS the REGULAR SEASON, they want to change the tune! Gillespie is a good coach and KY did have key injuries early on BUT THEY STILL LOST TO GARDNER-FREAKING-WEBB amongst others! Hey dumbass coaches of the SEC - it's called the coach of THE YEAR award - not coach of THE CONFERENCE YEAR, or coach of THE HALF-YEAR! Yeah BP got screwed so I guess now we'll just have to go out and win some even BIGGER and MORE IMPORTANT HARDWARE!!!! Somebody must pay for this and as the line goes - THERE WILL BE BLOOD!!!
jandjhome#228397 writes:
Thanks DSaVol you said it all.
GreerVol22 writes:
sorry hotlanta, volsfan and I must have the hicups.
Ironcity writes:
The only problem I have is that I thought only 5 players played at a time therefore only 5 should be on the first team and 5 more on the second. It looks like half the league is on the first two teams.
OrangePride writes:
Often don't agree with all you say DaSaVol, but on this one you are right on!! This is a coach of "THE YEAR." So yes, KY finished well.....not as well as Tennessee, but a good job. Pearl has done nothing short of a GREAT job. And when you add in the out of conference schedule that Pearl had to navigate this club thru, you get a real sense of the kind of job he did. Bruce should not be sharing the platform with ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY, not just the SEC. We won't hold our collective breath on that one, but trust me, if Bruce were at UCLA or Notre Dame or one of the other media darlings, it would be a slam dunk. So now lets further proove our point at the BIG DANCE. GO VOLS! GO BRUCE!
GoVol writes:
Tyler Smith is the best player on team and Pearl is the best coach in the SEC.
VOLS85 writes:
So Kentucky starts as a top 25 team, expected to do well, and they finish as a bubble team...how do you reckon this guy should be considered in the same breath as Pearl. We did what we were supposed to do when everyone else thought we would flop, with the #1 RPI and #1 SOS, and pearl has to share it?! maybe we should have lost to temple and UTC to start the season, maybe then Pearl would have won it outright.
I know coach will say it doesn't mean a lot, but this team busted their as$ and he drove them. Pearl should be hands down the coach of the year.
Orangebrewbasher writes:
TN's first outright SEC title in 41 years and pearl doesn't win the coach of the year award, give me a break. These awards don't mean a damn thing.
Colliervol writes:
And not only should they be ineligible for COY but anybody that loses to, not one, but two Conference America teams in the same year should be tied to a chair between John Adams and Paul Finebaum for a week as punishment. I'll bet he'd never let that happen again.
SeanJean writes:
No he won't brownsvillevol. He won't even be near the top. i would be shocked if he wins National COY. If he can't win the SEC, no way he wins National.
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