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.