Kentucky was predicted to win the 2017 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship Wednesday in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.
The Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite for the 12th time since the 1998-99 season.
Arkansas senior forward Moses Kingsley was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Georgia’s J.J. Frazier & Yante Maten; Kentucky’s Edrice “Bam” Adebayo, Isaiah Briscoe, De’Aaron Fox & Malik Monk; and Texas A&M’s Tyler Davis also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.
Kingsley, Frazier, Adebayo, Fox and Davis were each All-SEC First Team selections. Maten, Briscoe and Monk were second team picks along with Florida’s KeVaughn Allen, LSU’s Antonio Blakeney, Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon and Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet.
Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.
The 2016-17 campaign begins November 11, with conference play set to begin December 29. The 2017 SEC Tournament will be March 8-12 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
First Team All-SEC
Moses Kingsley – Arkansas, F, 6-10, 230, Sr., Abuja, Nigeria
J.J. Frazier – Georgia, G, 5-10, 155, Sr., Glennville, Ga.
Edrice “Bam” Adebayo – Kentucky, F, 6-10, 260, Fr., Little Washington, N.C.
De’Aaron Fox – Kentucky, G, 6-3, 187, Fr., Houston, Texas
Tyler Davis – Texas A&M, C, 6-10, 270, So., Plano, Texas
Second Team All-SEC
KeVaughn Allen – Florida, G, 6-2, 183, So., Little Rock, Ark.
Yante Maten – Georgia, F, 6-8, 240, Jr., Pontiac, Mich.
Isaiah Briscoe – Kentucky, G, 6-3, 210, So., Newark, N.J.
Malik Monk – Kentucky, G, 6-3, 200, Fr., Lepanto, Ark.
Antonio Blakeney – LSU, G, 6-4, 190, So., Sarasota, Fla.
Quinndary Weatherspoon – Mississippi State, G, 6-4, 202, So., Canton, Miss.
Luke Kornet – Vanderbilt, F, 7-1, 250, Sr., Lantana, Texas
SEC Player of the Year: Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Preseason Media Poll
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Arkansas
6. Vanderbilt
7. Alabama
8. South Carolina
9. Ole Miss
10. Mississippi State
11. Auburn
12. LSU
13. Tennessee
14. Missouri
SEC release