Jordan McRae’s campaign for SEC player of the year came up just short, an All-SEC first-team nod being the consolation.
Results of the SEC men’s basketball coaches’ vote for league honors were released Tuesday. Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was named player of the year, while Florida coach Billy Donovan earned coach of the year. Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes landed on the nine-man All-SEC second team.
Kentucky’s Nerlen’s Noel was named freshman of the year and defensive player of the year, while UK’s Kyle Wiltjer earned sixth man of the year honors. Florida’s Patric Young is the scholar athlete of the year.
McRae, UT’s first-team member, averaged 19.2 points, playing a league-best 37.7 minutes per game in SEC conference play. He ranked fifth in the league shooting 39.2 percent on 3-point attempts.
Stokes was the lone player in the conference to average a double-double in league play, averaging 13.1 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
First Team All-SEC
Trevor Releford, Alabama
Erik Murphy, Florida
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Johnny O’Bryant III, LSU
Phil Pressey, Missouri
Jordan McRae, Tennessee
Elston Turner, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Marshawn Powell, Arkansas
B.J. Young, Arkansas
Kenny Boynton, Florida
^Mike Rosario, Florida
^Patric Young, Florida
Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
Murphy Holloway, Ole Miss
Laurence Bowers, Missouri
Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
SEC All-Freshman Team
Michael Frazier II, Florida
Charles Mann, Georgia
^Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
^Alex Poythress, Kentucky
Craig Sword, Mississippi State
^Gavin Ware, Mississippi State
Michael Carrera, South Carolina
SEC All-Defensive Team
^Trevor Releford, Alabama
Scottie Wilbekin, Florida
^Patric Young, Florida
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Anthony Hickey, LSU
Reginald Buckner, Ole Miss
^-Ties are not broken
SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan, Florida
SEC Player of the Year: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Patric Young, Florida
SEC Freshman of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Kyle Wiltjer, Kentucky
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Oregon sends Lady Vols home from…
Dan Proctor draws Tennessee Football…
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Comments » 30
tnvol4ever writes:
I guess "Always next year" would apply here also. The Vols should have at least 4-5 players if not more on this list. Maybe even a coach.
tnvol4ever writes:
oops, for now congratulations to McRae and Stokes...very well deserved and then some.
JSmith525 writes:
Wht a COS Stokes the only SEC player who averaged a DD. He should have been 1st team no doubt...
VFL70 writes:
Very pleased for our guys; can't argue with Caldwell-Pope's selection. Motivation for all of our guys this year and next.
bUTch_please writes:
Hmmmm...sure are a lot of teams we beat with defensive players of the year honors. Wonder if anyone has taken notice on their way to Nashville?
laraccoon writes:
there are some darn talented ball players on that first team , i could easily agree with JSmith525 , Stokes was as talented as any of those first teamers in his own way !
TheEffect writes:
Congratulations to Nerlens Noel, Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Kyle Wiltjer for taking home a boatload of awards. GO BIG BLUE!!!!
Orangeblood13 writes:
Over rated
Tucker31 writes:
Absolutely!! Couldn't agree more. Perhaps this will entice him to stay for one more year.
etu_vol_fan writes:
Pope is a good player. Can't really argue with that.
615VOL writes:
What they don't list here is who got "Most Underachieving" Coach of the Year, which of course went to Calapari.
signalcorps writes:
next year this team will be something to be even more proud of,,,there will be first teamers on this team..............players and coaches only.............
lomas98 writes:
Good to see this for Mcrae. He was coming off the bench to start the season and it turns into contending for player of the year. I also credit Cuonzo for molding Mcrae into the player he is. We will never know, but I think if Pearl was still here I'm not sure he could get this out of Mcrae. Not knocking Pearl or his ability, but he wasn't the best at controlling characters. Some of it could be contributed to Mcrae growing up a bit, but for some reason I think he would not be the same player and person.
Here is some advice for young players out there in high school. If you are a good to borderline great player, you better have a good attitude and carry yourself well on the court and off. That is the difference for Mr. Marshall Henderson not making first team selection.
bUTch_please writes:
.. clap clap clapclapclap..
Over rated .. clap clap clapclapclap..
Ayres_Hall writes:
What happend to awarding the best 5? Drop Releford, Murphy, and Noel to second team.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Congrats to all. I can agree with most of these except Stokes as 2nd team. Easily a first teamer and it's a shame they voted differently.
Golden should have been somewhere in the mix imho. He did have some rough games though.
It's hard to believe there's a better defensive player out there than Richardson. may be
Regardless wtg all you NBA hopefuls.hehe
Nunshalpass writes:
Not really right that Noel can miss 40% of the season and still make 1st team while Stokes averages a dbl-dbl and gets put on 2nd team.
carbonzip writes:
Cuonzo should have taken the refs on earlier and Stokes would probably have been first team. The only SEC player I know of that was constantly double teamed. He is going to be a great player at Tennessee.
budd#207344 writes:
This conference will never be seen as a basketball power until it quits bowing down to ky. This is the coaches poll. Five ky players are first and second team when they collapsed after losing their big player? And Eddie Munster gets COY when he cant' beat ky or UT? Other coaches in other conferences will look at this and go " And they expect us to give them more NCAA bids when they honor a second tier team?"
alraguc#466367 writes:
Murphy? He did not look like anything special against Tennessee.
usnavyvolfan_on_duty writes:
Yeah, all those award winners, and they're on the bubble. can you say "underachieving?"
Basketvol writes:
Congratulations to McRae and Stokes!
My thoughts and observations:
Stokes should definitely be on 1st team.
Golden should probably be on 2nd team but his inconsistency (maybe due to injuries?)could also keep him off the list.
Awful lot of awards (many in the freshman categories) for a certain team on the bubble. They were either overrated at the beginning of the year, or really underachieved, or a bit of both.
Our coach beat the coach of the year--three times in a row. It will be Coach Martin's turn for SEC coach of the year next year, and you can write that down in ink.
tovolny writes:
COME ON COACHES!!!...to leave Stokes off the 1st Team is just not right. Is it known 'who voted for who' or can you guess for whom some of the coaches (AHEM) voted? I am glad the sports writers don't have a vote, because you know Adamn-s, Weedeater, and Gomer aren't voting for anything with an Orange T attached. I know and I admit I am biased PRO Vols, and I realize that some would just say I am crying. Well, OKAY, I am crying...cry...cry...cry...and why...why...why can you leave Stokes off the 1st Team. Boo hoo hoo. DAG NAP IT!
Next year...will it be Maymon, Stokes, McRay, Richardson and Golden? With a couple of new guys and a touch of luck (or just absent bad luck), UT could be Utterly Tremendous. AAAHHHH...I feel better now.
ssukonic#254241 writes:
Someone explain to me how Josh Richardson is not on the All SEC defensive team. I love how he's coming along all around.
johnlg00 writes:
Well said, and a GREAT observation about Henderson. The way McRae blossomed in the last month, I'm sure some will wonder why he wasn't even starting earlier in the year. I think that stretch coming off the bench helped tone down the impulsiveness that often hampered him in the past. If he had been the player he is now for the whole season, the team would have been an NCAA shoo-in and he would have been a cinch for conference POY.
johnlg00 writes:
Plenty of fuel for all the guys to run all over the rest of the conference in the tournament. These post-season awards are always popularity contests to some extent, but Golden's early-season slump and Stokes' low production about the same time probably hurt their all-star chances. And while I have great admiration for Richardson as a defender, it is hard to point to any real "big-gun" that he really silenced. In fact, several of the league's better guards and small forwards had career games against the Vols. Let your indignation burn, Vols, and show the rest of the league what they missed in those votes!
abnermc writes:
They also took home a 30 point beatdown.
JSmith525 writes:
To the Vol Players: The SEC coaches voted for the players of a team that you put a arsewhipping on by 30 points. I sure hope you remember that in the SEC Tny and go out on that court with an attitude. Kick Some Arse. Show them how good you are and can be in this tny..... Go Vols!!!!!!!!!!!!
mloaks#222092 writes:
congrats!
wish UTK had an all-Frosh player...
johnlg00 writes:
Well, they should have one next year, and THIS year's UT frosh will be kicking sand in the faces of many of the OTHER teams' all-star frosh NEXT year. That is often what you get when players actually are around long enough to grow up.
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