Ad Disclosure
SEC names Players of the Week, Freshman of the Week after conference openers
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The SEC opened conference play on Saturday, and the conference recognized the top performers of the week on Monday.
For. Jan. 6, there are co-Players of the Week: Kentucky’s Koby Brea and Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier. Alabama’s Labaron Philon repeats as Freshman of the Week.
Brea helped carry Kentucky to victory over Florida for the Wildcats’ third top-10 win of the 2024-25 season. UF was ranked No. 6 and undefeated before falling 106-100 to UK in Lexington. Brea had a career day, draining 7 3-pointers in a 23-point effort.
Lanier helped Tennessee open conference play 1-0 and remain undefeated on the season with a win over Arkansas. The Volunteers took down John Calipari’s Razorbacks 76-52. Lanier led the way with 29 points, making 10-of-20 field goals, including 5 3-pointers.
Philon makes it back-to-back as the conference’s top freshman. Alabama thumped Oklahoma in a 107-79 blowout in Tuscaloosa. Philon logged 16 points on 50% shooting from the field, adding 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Over the last 2 games, Philon has avoided committing a turnover while logging 11 assists.
Conference play continues on Tuesday with a 5-game slate highlighted by No. 1 Tennessee at No. 8 Florida. Three more games are scheduled for Wednesday, including No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 17 Oklahoma.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.