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SEC Awards: POTY Darius Acuff Jr
Posted on 3/9/26 at 2:24 pm
Posted on 3/9/26 at 2:24 pm
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If tweet fails to load, click here. 2026 SEC Men's Basketball Awards announced - Southeastern Conference
March 09, 2026
Birmingham, Ala. (March 9, 2029) – The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men’s basketball post season awards Monday as selected by the league’s head coaches.
2025-26 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards
First Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
Second Team
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Mark Mitchell, Missouri
Otega Oweh, Kentucky
Dailyn Swain, Texas
Third Team
Rashaun Agee, Texas A&M
Alex Condon, Florida
Keyshawn Hall, Auburn
Aden Holloway, Alabama
Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State
All-Defensive Team
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Somto Cyril, Georgia
Felix Okpara, Tennessee
Billy Richmond III, Arkansas
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Amari Allen, Alabama
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Malachi Moreno, Kentucky
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Coach of the Year: Todd Golden, Florida
Player of the Year: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Newcomer of the Year: Dailyn Swain, Texas
Freshman of the Year: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Sixth-Man of the Year: Urban Klavzar, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
5
Posted on 3/9/26 at 2:40 pm to UltimateHog
Not an Ag, but Bucky got snubbed from the Coach of the Year award. According to CBS Sports, Texas A&M was predicted to finish 13th in the SEC. The Aggies finished 5th in the conference, in spite of having a limited NIL budget for men's basketball. While Florida was undeniably the best team in the league this season, they were predicted to be the best team preseason. The Gators also had a much more costly roster than the Aggies. Bucky McMillan's ability to vastly exceed expectations and do more with less made him the best candidate for COTY. Shame the voters didn't see this.
Posted on 3/9/26 at 3:39 pm to crazie04
quote:
Not an Ag, but Bucky got snubbed from the Coach of the Year award. According to CBS Sports, Texas A&M was predicted to finish 13th in the SEC. The Aggies finished 5th in the conference, in spite of having a limited NIL budget for men's basketball. While Florida was undeniably the best team in the league this season, they were predicted to be the best team preseason. The Gators also had a much more costly roster than the Aggies. Bucky McMillan's ability to vastly exceed expectations and do more with less made him the best candidate for COTY. Shame the voters didn't see this.
This rationale is why it took Donovan 15 years to get COTY recognition in the SEC despite everything he did pre-2011 in building up UF. Sometimes the coach of the best team did the best job.
Also did A&M vastly exceed expectations? The media may have predicted them to finished 13th, but I think the predictive analytics put their win total around 9. So they finished with 2 more wins than expected, which is certainly very good. Worth noting, Golden and UF also won 2 more than expectations.
Bucky did a great job, but Golden did too and as A&M continued to lose more games think it became more obvious.
This post was edited on 3/9/26 at 3:50 pm
Posted on 3/9/26 at 3:43 pm to UltimateHog
Otega > Gillespie and should've been 1st team. Aside from that looks pretty solid.
This post was edited on 3/9/26 at 3:48 pm
Posted on 3/9/26 at 4:16 pm to UltimateHog
quote:
as selected by the league’s head coaches
The coaches were in a bind. They had to vote for either a douchebag who they hate, or a first year guy who was a high school coach a few years ago. Both options were painful for them.
Posted on 3/9/26 at 4:18 pm to UltimateHog
Congrats to Acuff, Thomas, and Richmond.
Tournament season is about to begin. Time to go to work.
Tournament season is about to begin. Time to go to work.
Posted on 3/9/26 at 4:21 pm to crazie04
Coach of the year always goes to the coach that wins the conference, especially if it is a close vote. Not a surprise that the "alleged" rapist won coach of the year.
Posted on 3/9/26 at 5:14 pm to ColoradoAg
Congrats 2 all
Posted on 3/9/26 at 5:29 pm to UltimateHog
quote:
Keyshawn Hall, Auburn
Do the people that vote for these all star teams actually watch games?
Hall is a petulant child.
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