SEC media vote Kentucky to win title; Four Cats named to all-league teams
The media that cover Southeastern Conference men’s basketball voted Kentucky to repeat as league champion in 2016-17.
Also Wednesday, UK freshmen Bam Adebayo and De’Aaron Fox were named to the preseason All-SEC First Team.
Kentucky sophomore Isaiah Briscoe and freshman Malik Monk were voted to the Second Team. Lexington native Luke Kornet of Vanderbilt also received Second Team honors.
Should UK win the league title as predicted, it would mark the fifth regular-season championship under head coach John Calipari and the program’s 48th overall.
Kentucky was named the preseason favorite for the 12th time since 1998-99.
Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia and Arkansas rounded out the top five in the SEC preseason media predictions.
Adebayo and Fox were joined on the All-SEC First Team by Arkansas senior forward Moses Kingsley, Georgia senior guard J.J. Frazier and Texas A&M sophomore center Tyler Davis. Kingsley was the preseason pick for the league’s player of the year award.
Adebayo was the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 18.9 points and 13.0 rebounds for High Point Christian Academy as a senior.
Fox is a Naismith High School Player of the Year finalist, and played in both the McDonald’s All American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic. In the latter, he earned co-MVP honors with Monk.
Briscoe is Kentucky’s leading returning scorer at 9.6 points per game and rebounder at 5.3 boards per outing.
Monk was the 2016 Arkansas Gatorade High School Player of the Year in addition to earning the state’s Mr. Basketball award.
Kentucky begins its season Friday in the annual Blue-White Game at Rupp Arena at 7 p.m.
SEC media voting
Preseason team poll
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Arkansas
6. Vanderbilt
7. Alabama
8. South Carolina
9. Ole Miss
10 Mississippi State
11. Auburn
12. LSU
13. Tennessee
14. Missouri
All-SEC
FIRST TEAM
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas, F, 6‐10, Sr.
J.J. Frazier , Georgia, G, 5‐10, Sr.
Bam Adebayo , Kentucky, F, 6‐10, Fr.
De'Aaron Fox, Kentucky, G, 6‐3, Fr.
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M, C, 6‐10, So.
SECOND TEAM
KeVaughn Allen, Florida, G, 6‐2, So.
Yante Maten, Georgia, F, 6‐8, Jr.
Isaiah Briscoe, Kentucky, G, 6‐3, So.
Malik Monk, Kentucky, G, 6‐3, Fr.
Antonio Blakeney, LSU, G, 6‐4, So.
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State, G, 6-4, So.
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt, F, 7‐1, Sr.
SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 10:51 AM with the headline "SEC media vote Kentucky to win title; Four Cats named to all-league teams."