Awards continue to roll in for Cats

The coaches of the Southeastern Conference have spoken, and the John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are tops in the conference.

Wall was named the SEC Player of the Year on Tuesday by the coaches, and Cousins was named SEC Freshman of the Year.

The award for Wall doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many, but it should be noted Wall was never named SEC Player of the Week throughout the season (weird, huh?). Wall was named SEC Freshman of the Week five times. Cousins was named SEC Freshman of the Week four times and Player of the Week once.

Wall is the second freshman ever to be named SEC Player of the Year, joining Louisiana State’s Chris Jackson, who won the award in 1989.

Together, Wall and Cousins have become one of the all-time best freshman tandems. The two are averaging a combined 32.9 points per game, 14.2 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Cats.

In somewhat of a surprise, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings was named the SEC Coach of the Year. UK head coach John Calipari was the favorite to win the award for taking a team that went to the National Invitation Tournament one year ago all the way to a No. 2 ranking in the final regular season Associated Press top 25. Stallings directed the Commodores to a 23-7 record and second place finish in the SEC East. The Commodores are considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament next week.

Coaches voted on the eight-member teams for All-SEC, Second Team All-SEC and for the SEC All-Freshman squad.

Here’s the complete rundown:

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC

Trey Thompkins – Forward – Georgia

DeMarcus Cousins – Forward – UK

Patrick Patterson – Forward – UK

John Wall – Guard – UK

Jarvis Varnado – Center – Mississippi State

Devan Downey – Guard – South Carolina

Wayne Chism – Forward – Tennessee

Jermaine Beal – Guard – Vanderbilt

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC

Mikhail Torrance – Guard – Alabama

Courtney Fortson – Guard – Arkansas

Erving Walker – Guard – Florida

Tasmin Mitchell – Forward – LSU

Chris Warren – Guard – Mississippi

Dee Bost – Guard – Mississippi State

A.J. Ogilvy – Center – Vanderbilt

Jeffrey Taylor – Forward – Vanderbilt

SEC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Tony Mitchell – Forward – Alabama

Marshawn Powell – Forward – Arkansas

Kenny Boynton – Guard – Florida

Eric Bledsoe – Guard – UK

DeMarcus Cousins – Forward – UK

John Wall – Guard – UK

Reginald Buckner – Forward – Mississippi

John Jenkins – Guard – Vanderbilt

SEC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Patrick Patterson – Forward – UK

Jarvis Varnado – Center – Mississippi State

Devan Downey – Guard – South Carolina

Sam Muldrow – Forward – South Carolina

Jeffrey Taylor – Forward – Vanderbilt

SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jarvis Varnado – Center – Mississippi State

SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

DeMarcus Cousins – Forward – UK

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR

Kevin Stallings – Vanderbilt

SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR

John Wall – Guard – UK

Wall, Calipari win USBWA awards

The United States Basketball Writers’ Association named their District IV Player of the Year on Tuesday, and it is none other than Mr. Wall.

Not to be left out, Calipari was named the District Coach of the Year.

Joining Wall on the All-District team are Cousins and Patterson.

District IV consists of teams from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.