SEC basketball 2020: Predictions, perseverance and a game of ‘Did you know?’
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2020-21 College Basketball Preview
The Lexington Herald-Leader’s 2020-21 College Basketball Preview special section was published in the print edition on Sunday, Nov. 15. Click below to view all the stories from that section that have been published on Kentucky.com.
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A guide to the 2020-21 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball season, starting with some predictions:
Order of finish
1. Tennessee.
2. Kentucky.
3. LSU.
4. Alabama.
5. Florida.
6. Ole Miss.
7. Auburn.
8. Missouri.
9. Arkansas.
10. Texas A&M.
11. South Carolina.
12. Mississippi State.
13. Georgia.
14. Vanderbilt.
All-SEC team
▪ Brandon Boston, Kentucky.
▪ Yves Pons, Tennessee.
▪ Trendon Watford, LSU.
▪ Keyontae Johnson, Florida.
▪ John Petty, Alabama.
Top freshmen
Kentucky: Brandon Boston, Devin Askew, Terrence Clarke, Isaiah Jackson.
Tennessee: Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer.
LSU: Cameron Thomas.
Arkansas: Moses Moody.
Auburn: Sharife Cooper, JT Thor.
Mississippi State: Deivon Smith.
Transfers of note
Olivier Sarr: From Wake Forest to Kentucky.
Davion Mintz: From Creighton to Kentucky.
Jacob Toppin: From Rhode Island to Kentucky.
E.J. Anosike: From Sacred Heart to Tennessee.
Jordan Bruner: From Yale to Alabama.
Jalen Tate: From Northern Kentucky to Arkansas.
Justin Smith: From Indiana to Arkansas.
Tyree Appleby: From Cleveland State to Florida.
Anthony Duruji: From Louisiana Tech to Florida.
Justin Kier: From George Mason to Georgia.
Romello White: From Arizona State to Ole Miss.
Drew Buggs: From Hawaii to Missouri.
Seventh Woods: From North Carolina to South Carolina.
Kevin Marfo: From Quinnipiac to Texas A&M.
Javian Davis: From Alabama to Mississippi State.
Tolu Smith: From Western Kentucky (2018-19) to Mississippi State.
Other veterans of note
▪ Herbert Jones, Alabama.
▪ John Fulkerson, Tennessee.
▪ Savion Flagg, Texas A&M.
▪ Noah Locke, Florida.
About to blossom
▪ Keion Brooks, Kentucky.
▪ Scottie Lewis, Florida.
▪ Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia.
▪ Kobe Brown, Missouri.
▪ KJ Buffen, Ole Miss.
▪ Jermaine Cousinard, South Carolina.
▪ Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee.
Departures
Kentucky: Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards, Tyrese Maxey and EJ Montgomery.
Georgia: Anthony Edwards.
Alabama: Kira Lewis.
Florida: Andrew Nembhard transferred from Florida to Gonzaga.
Ole Miss: Breein Tyree.
Teams benefiting from 2020 NBA Draft withdrawals
Tennessee: SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons.
LSU: Javonte Smart, Darius Days and Trendon Watford.
South Carolina: A.J. Lawson.
Alabama: John Petty.
Missouri: Jeremiah Tilmon and Mark Smith.
Top underappreciated players
▪ Keyontae Johnson, Florida.
▪ A.J. Lawson, South Carolina
▪ Jaden Shackleford, Alabama.
▪ Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss.
▪ Javonte Smart, LSU.
▪ Jeremiah Tilmon, Missouri.
▪ Dru Smith, Missouri.
Relatively speaking
▪ Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt. (Scottie Pippen’s son).
▪ Shareef O’Neal, LSU. (Shaquille O’Neal’s son).
▪ Jamal Johnson, Auburn. (former Alabama star Buck Johnson’s son).
▪ Cashius McNeilly, Texas A&M (nephew of A&M associate coach James McNeilly).
▪ Victor Bailey Jr., Tennessee (his mother, Tonja Buford-Bailey, won a bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 1996 Olympics).
Parlez-vous Français?
Olivier Sarr, a native of Bordeaux, France, pooh-poohed the idea of speaking French to, say, get away with grumbling about a referee’s call. “Always respect the refs,” he said with a smile.
But the UK big man will have reasons to speak French on the court this coming season.
Two other SEC players are from France.
Tennessee guard/forward Yves Pons, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is from Fuveau, France.
Alabama freshman big man Alex Tchikou is from Paris. He tore an Achilles tendon and is out for the season.
For those without Google Maps, Bordeaux and Fuveau are in southern France. Bordeaux is in the southwest corner of the country near the Atlantic Ocean. Fuveau is near the Mediterranean Sea about a half-hour drive north of Marseille.
Also starting over
▪ Auburn lost five seniors and productive freshman Isaac Okoro from last season’s team.
▪ Arkansas has one starter returning and added 10 new scholarship players.
▪ Georgia’s eight newcomers include three grad transfers and three junior-college transfers.
▪ Texas A&M will be one of the least experienced teams not named Kentucky. Eight freshmen or sophomores are on the Aggies’ roster.
Perseverance
▪ Herbert Jones fractured his left wrist during Alabama’s first game against LSU last season. In the rematch, he stepped to the free-throw line with 1:37 remaining. A lefty, Jones made both free throws shooting right-handed to help seal a Tide victory. Incidentally, he also grabbed 17 rebounds in the game despite a cast on his left arm.
▪ Texas A&M opened last season with five losses in its first eight games. In the last three of those losses, the Aggies averaged only 47.7 points. From that pedestrian start, Texas A&M went on to finish with a winning SEC record (10-8). The Associated Press named Buzz Williams its SEC Coach of the Year.
▪ South Carolina Coach Frank Martin had anything but a carefree offseason. He underwent knee replacement surgery. And while undergoing routine blood work prior to the surgery, he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Success/failure
Vanderbilt’s recent seasons have shown the wisdom in a quote attributed to Rudyard Kipling: “If you can meet success and failure, and treat them both as impostors, then you are a balanced man, my son.”
Vandy entered the 2018-19 season on the highest of highs. Then-coach Bryce Drew had just added two freshmen who were the first McDonald’s All-Americans in program history: Darius Garland and Simi Shittu. A third recruit was South Carolina Player of the Year Aaron Nesmith.
Vandy did not win an SEC game in the 2018-19 season. Garland’s season ended after four games. The losing streak in league play grew to 26 games — the longest in SEC history — before the Commodores beat LSU on Feb. 5 of this year.
By then, Garland was en route to averaging 30.9 minutes in the NBA this past season. And Nesmith played well enough to be projected as a first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
What if …
▪ The NCAA charges LSU and/or Auburn with rules violations?
▪ Isaiah Joe had changed his mind again and returned to Arkansas after entering the NBA Draft, then withdrawing on Aug. 1 and then re-entering on Aug. 17?
▪ Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse eventually brings in the talent to breathe life into his North Carolina know-how?
▪ The COVID-19 pandemic leads to the cancellation of regular-season games and/or a second straight NCAA Tournament? Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland used the words “devastating” and “heartbreaking” to describe the cancellation of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Did you know?
▪ Tennessee is seeking its second SEC regular-season championship in four years.
▪ Nearly half of Alabama’s shots last season (49 percent to be precise) were from three-point range under first-year coach Nate Oats. The Tide took 957 three-point shots last season. Could 1,000 be in the offing this season?
▪ Freshman Moses Moody is the highest-rated prospect (No. 45 by 247Sports) to sign with Arkansas since Bobby Portis in 2013.
▪ Auburn has won 25 or more games in each of the last three seasons (a first for the program). Only six other programs did that: Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, New Mexico State and Vermont.
▪ In two seasons with Tom Crean as coach, Georgia has a 7-29 record in SEC play. In the last 11 seasons, his teams (Georgia and Indiana) have a league record of 78-116.
▪ Missouri has to be one of the nation’s most experienced teams. The Tigers’ 13-man roster includes five juniors, four seniors and one graduate transfer, two sophomores and one freshman. The top seven scorers from last season return.
▪ With Frank Martin as coach, South Carolina has a reputation for physical play. But the Gamecocks can be speedy as well as muscular as evidenced by ranking ninth nationally in average time of possession (15.4 seconds) last season.
▪ Tennessee had an advantage in recruiting E.J. Anosike. His sister, Nicky Anosike, played for the Lady Vols (2004-08) and helped the team win two national championships.
▪ Blake Hinson, a productive player for Ole Miss (10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds), transferred to Iowa State because a Confederate flag was part of Mississippi’s state flag. Coincidentally, three days after he transferred, the state legislature voted to remove the Confederate symbol.
▪ Olivier Sarr is not the only SEC player named Olivier. Tennessee has a sophomore forward from Finland named Olivier Nkamhoua (OH-liv-ee-AY KAHM-wuh).
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 3:05 PM.
