The SEC basketball coaches named the league’s top players for the ’17-18 season. Collin Sexton and Donta Hall were honored while Auburn and Bruce Pearl were snubbed.
On Tuesday, the SEC announced the All-SEC basketball teams and the SEC Coach of the Year, along with other player honors. Alabama basketball freshman, Collin Sexton was named to the All-SEC second team, the All-SEC Freshmen team and co-SEC Freshmen of the Year. Tide junior, Donta Hall also received a SEC basketball honor, being named to the All-SEC, Defensive team.
A complete list of the men’s basketball postseason awards is provided below.
SEC Coach of the Year is Rick Barnes of Tennessee
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl is not happy with the results. Of course, Pearl does not publicly question the COTY award going to Barnes. Pearl’s complaint is that none of his players were named to the All-SEC first team. Auburn’s Bryce Brown and Jared Harper were named to the second team and Anfernee McLemore was named to the All-SEC Defensive team.
Pearl took to Twitter to state his displeasure.
The First SEC Regular Season Champion to not have a player on the Coaches All SEC FIRST TEAM since it began in 1956 is The 2018 Auburn Tigers! I’m just sayin
— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) March 6, 2018
And he added more about his top scorer getting no recognition.
Pretty much sums up our season to this point. Mustapha averaged 17.1 Pts ranked 5th, 6th FT %, 10th steals, Top 25 Rebs and leads a Championship Team. Really? https://t.co/wM9ENQ0QfR
— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) March 6, 2018
The AP voters gave Auburn some love. Bryce Brown was AP All-SEC first team. Jared Harper and Mustapha Heron were named to the AP All-SEC second team. The Tide’s Collin Sexton was also chosen for the AP All-SEC first team.
So who knows best? The SEC coaches or the AP voters? The AP format picks a total of ten players rather than the 16 chosen by the coaches. With six fewer slots, it should be harder to make the AP teams. Three of the 10 players chosen by the AP are Auburn players. Bruce should have no complaint.
COTY is where the real snub occurred. Rick Barnes did a great job at Tennessee. But not a better job than Pearl did at Auburn. The coaches from the league co-Champions should have been co- SEC, COTY. It appears clear, Pearl’s fellow coaches saw some blemishes in Pearl’s resume having nothing to do with x’s and o’s. Having followed Pearl for years, we believe those blemishes are well deserved.
First Team All-SEC – Coaches Poll
Jaylen Barford, Arkansas
Chris Chiozza, Florida
Yante Maten, Georgia
Kevin Knox, Kentucky
Kassius Robertson, Missouri
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Collin Sexton, Alabama
Daryl Macon, Arkansas
Bryce Brown, Auburn
Jared Harper, Auburn
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Miss. State
Admiral Schofield, Tennessee
Jeff Roberson, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Collin Sexton, Alabama
Daniel Gafford, Arkansas
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky
Kevin Knox, Kentucky
Tremont Waters, LSU
Nick Weatherspoon, Miss. State
Jontay Porter, Missouri
TJ Starks, Texas A&M
All-Defensive Team
Donta Hall, Alabama
Anfernee McLemore, Auburn
Chris Chiozza, Florida
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Robert Williams, Texas A&M
Player of the Year: Grant Williams, Tennessee
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Silva, South Carolina and Robert Williams, Texas A&M
Co-Sixth-Man of the Year: Jontay Porter, Missouri and Lamonte Turner, Tennessee
Co-Freshman of the Year: Collin Sexton, Alabama and Kevin Knox, Kentucky
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Juwan Parker, Georgia
Next: Crimson Tide players scorched the NFL Combine
We hate giving the Pearlster credit for anything. However, his complaints will help motivate his players in the post-season.