UTSports.com
March 8, 2011
The Southeastern Conference announced its 2011 men's basketball postseason awards Tuesday, and three Volunteers--senior Brian Williams, junior Scotty Hopson and freshman Tobias Harris--found themselves among those honored by the league's head coaches.
Williams, a senior center from the Bronx, N.Y., was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the first Vol to ever garner that award. Williams came off the bench for 13 of the 14 league games in which he appeared this season, and he averaged 7.9 points and 7.1 rebounds during SEC play. His .540 field-goal percentage in conference games ranked second in the league. A tremendous passer for a player at his position, Williams also boasted a 1.27 assist/turnover ratio in SEC play.
For the first time in his career, Hopson landed on the coaches' eight-man All-SEC first team after posting the third-best scoring average in the entire conference (19.3 ppg). The Hopkinsville, Ky., native is a two-time SEC Player of the Week this season and scored 20 or more points in seven conference games. He also led the Vols in minutes played during league games (31.1 mpg) and shot a team-best .409 from 3-point range in SEC play.
This most recent honor demonstrates a solid career progression for Hopson--who ranks 24th on Tennessee's all-time scoring list with 1,274 career points--as he was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection in 2009, a member of the USA Basketball Men's Select Team last summer and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NIT Season Tip-Off earlier this season.
Hopson is the 43rd Vol ever to earn All-SEC first-team status and the fourth such honoree during the tenure of sixth-year head coach Bruce Pearl.
First-year forward Tobias Harris earned to pieces of conference hardware, earning inclusion on the SEC All-Freshman Team as well as the All-SEC second team. The Dix Hills, N.Y., native led the Big Orange in rebounding (7.9 rpg) during league play while ranking second in scoring (14.7 ppg), blocks (0.9 bpg), 3-point shooting (.324) and minutes played (30.0).
A legitimate Freshman All-America candidate, Harris has eight double-doubles this season, and he is one of only three players to rank in the top five in both scoring and rebounding among all freshmen in the six "major" conferences (joining Ohio State's Jared Sullinger and Kentucky's Terrence Jones).
Harris becomes just the second Vol to earn second-team All-SEC laurels as a freshman (Tony Harris is the other, 1998), and he is Tennessee's 16th all-time representative on the SEC All-Freshman Team (fifth during the Pearl era).
2011 SEC MEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
First-Team All-SEC
JaMychal Green, Alabama - F, 6-8, 228, Jr., Montgomery, Ala.
Chandler Parsons, Florida - F, 6-1-, 218, Sr., Casselberry, Fla.
Trey Thompkins, Georgia - F, 6-10, 245, Jr., Lithonia, Ga.
Terrence Jones, Kentucky - F, 6-8, 244, Fr., Portland, Ore.
Brandon Knight, Kentucky - G, 6-3, 185, Fr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Chris Warren, Ole Miss - G, 5-10, 168, Sr., Orlando, Fla.
Scotty Hopson, Tennessee - G, 6-7, 200, Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky.
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt - G, 6-4, 215, So., Hendersonville, Tenn.
Second-Team All-SEC
^Tony Mitchell, Alabama - F, 6-6, 210, So., Swainsboro, Ga.
^Rotnei Clarke, Arkansas - G, 6-0, 184, Jr., Verdigris, Okla.
^Kenny Boynton, Florida - G, 6-2, 183, So., Pompano Beach, Fla.
Erving Walker, Florida - G, 5-8, 171, Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Travis Leslie, Georgia - G, 6-4, 205, Jr., Decatur, Ga.
Dee Bost, Mississippi State - G, 6-2, 176, Jr., Concord, N.C.
Tobias Harris, Tennessee - F, 6-8, 226, Fr., Dix Hills, N.Y.
Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt - C, 6-11, 255, R-Jr., Benin City, Nigeria
Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt - F, 6-7, 225, Jr., Norrkoping, Sweden
SEC All-Freshman Team
Trevor Releford, Alabama - G, 6-1, 180, Fr., Shawnee Mission, Kan.
Patric Young, Florida - F/C, 6-9, 245, Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.
Terrence Jones, Kentucky - F, 6-8, 244, Fr., Portland, Ore.
Brandon Knight, Kentucky - G, 6-3, 185, Fr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Doron Lamb, Kentucky - G, 6-4, 195, Fr., Queens, N.Y.
Ralston Turner, LSU - G, 6-6, 193, Fr., Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Bruce Ellington, South Carolina - G, 5-9, 194, Fr. Moncks Corner, S.C.
Tobias Harris, Tennessee - F, 6-8, 226, Fr., Dix Hills, N.Y.
SEC All-Defensive Team
Delvon Johnson, Arkansas - F, 6-9, 220, Sr., Chicago, Ill.
DeAndre Liggins, Kentucky - G, 6-6, 210, Jr., Chicago, Ill.
Reginald Buckner, Ole Miss - F, 6-8, 233, So., Memphis, Tenn.
Sam Muldrow, South Carolina - F/C, 6-9, 222, Sr., Florence, S.C.
SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan, Florida
SEC Player of the Year: Chandler Parsons, Florida
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Riley Benock, Mississippi State
SEC Freshman of the Year: Terrence Jones, Kentucky
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Brian Williams, Tennessee
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Sam Muldrow, South Carolina
^-Ties are not broken
