BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference men’s basketball coaches announced their 2013 All-SEC teams Tuesday, and a pair of Tennessee players were among those honored.
Junior guard Jordan McRae made the coaches’ eight-man All-SEC first team, while sophomore power forward Jarnell Stokes landed on the nine-man All-SEC second team.
One of the most improved players in all of college basketball, McRae developed from Tennessee’s sixth man a year ago – averaging 8.6 points per game – to a legitimate SEC Player of the Year candidate this season.
McRae finished SEC play ranked first in minutes (37.7 mpg), third in scoring (19.2 ppg) and fifth in 3-point percentage (.392). Among the SEC’s top four scorers, McRae’s 1.38 points per field-goal attempt ranked second only to Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1.41).
Against the top three teams in the final SEC standings (Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss), McRae averaged 23.4 points and 5.6 rebounds.
The Midway, Ga., native scored at least 25 points six times and posted two 30-point outings. He dropped a career-high 35 points on Georgia in Athens while shooting 8-for-11 from 3-point range.
McRae becomes the 44th Vol to earn first-team All-SEC laurels and the sixth since 2003.
Stokes was the only player in the SEC to average a double-double during conference play this season (13.1 ppg, 10.7 rpg), and the Memphis, Tenn., native was one of just four players in all of "major" college basketball to accomplish that feat during their respective conference’s league schedule.
His 14 double-doubles are tied for the most by an SEC player this season and are the most by a Vol since Ian Lockhart had 14 during the 1989-90 campaign.
A two-time SEC Player of the Week, Stokes scored in double figures 19 times this season and grabbed at least 10 rebounds 16 times.
First Team All-SEC
Trevor Releford, Alabama
Erik Murphy, Florida
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Johnny O’Bryant III, LSU
Phil Pressey, Missouri
Jordan McRae, Tennessee
Elston Turner, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Marshawn Powell, Arkansas
B.J. Young, Arkansas
Kenny Boynton, Florida
^Mike Rosario, Florida
^Patric Young, Florida
Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
Murphy Holloway, Ole Miss
Laurence Bowers, Missouri
Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
SEC All-Freshman Team
Michael Frazier II, Florida
Charles Mann, Georgia
^Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
^Alex Poythress, Kentucky
Craig Sword, Mississippi State
^Gavin Ware, Mississippi State
Michael Carrera, South Carolina
SEC All-Defensive Team
^Trevor Releford, Alabama
Scottie Wilbekin, Florida
^Patric Young, Florida
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Anthony Hickey, LSU
Reginald Buckner, Ole Miss
^-Ties are not broken
SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan, Florida
SEC Player of the Year: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Patric Young, Florida
SEC Freshman of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Kyle Wiltjer, Kentucky
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)