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SEC announces preseason media poll, Player of the Year voting for men’s basketball
By Keith Farner
Published:
The SEC is out with its preseason media poll for men’s basketball and Tennessee was picked to win the league.
The Vols are the overall preseason favorite for the first time since the 2020-21 season and the 5th time overall (preseason media poll began in 1989-90). Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama round out the league top 5.
UT being picked to win the SEC is similar to other polls, as the Vols are No. 9 in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll that was released on Monday afternoon.
Other teams in the AP Poll are Arkansas (No. 14), Texas A&M (No. 15), Kentucky (No. 16) and Alabama (No. 24). Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Florida also received votes.
Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Alabama’s Grant Nelson, Arkansas’s Trevon Brazile, Auburn’s Johni Broome, Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith and Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.
Nelson, Brazile, Broome, Smith, Vescovi and Taylor were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Kentucky’s Justin Edwards. Alabama’s Mark Sears, Florida’s Riley Kugel, Arkansas’s Davonte Davis, Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler were second team picks.
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 5-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.
The 2023-24 campaign begins on Monday, Nov. 6, and conference play will start on Saturday, Jan. 6. The 2024 SEC Tournament will be March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
