Entries Tagged 'SEC' ↓

The Southeastern Conference named Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe as its Freshman of the Week and Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke as its Player of the Week for last week.

Bledsoe set a record for points by a freshman in his debut game for Kentucky. He scored 24 points, which also marked the first time a UK freshman scored 20 or more points in his first game since Sam Bowie scored 22 in 1979.

UK beat Morehead State 75-59 Friday.

Clarke scored an Arkansas record 51 points in a victory over Alcorn State. He made a SEC record 13 three-point shots.

Kentucky big man Patrick Patterson was among eight players named to the coaches’ All-Southeastern Conference pre-season first team. Freshman John Wall made the second team.

Here’s the list of players who made each team:

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC       Pos         Ht           Wt          Cl            Hometown

Devan Downey, South Carolina#               G             5-9          175         Sr.           Chester, S.C.

Tasmin Mitchell, LSU#    F              6-7          235         Sr.           Denham Springs, La.

A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt    C             6-11       250         Jr.           Sydney, Australia

Patrick Patterson, Kentucky#     F              6-9          235         Jr.           Huntington, W.Va.

Tyler Smith, Tennessee#              G/F        6-7          215         Sr.           Pulaski, Tenn.

Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State#            F              6-9          230         Sr.           Brownsville, Tenn.

Michael Washington, Arkansas  F              6-9          239         Sr.           McGehee, Ark.

Terrico White, Ole Miss#              G             6-5          211         So.          Memphis, Tenn.

SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC Pos         Ht           Wt          Cl            Hometown

Dominique Archie, South Carolina            F              6-7          200         Sr.           Augusta, Ga.

Wayne Chism, Tennessee            F/C         6-9          246         Sr.           Jackson, Tenn.

JaMychal Green, Alabama           F              6-9          220         So.          Montgomery, Ala.

DeWayne Reed, Auburn               G             6-1          175         Sr.           Houston, Texas

Trey Thompkins, Georgia             F              6-10       247         So.          Lithonia, Ga.

Alex Tyus, Florida             F              6-8          220         Jr.           St. Louis, Mo.

John Wall, Kentucky       G             6-4          195         Fr.           Raleigh, N.C.

Chris Warren, Ole Miss  G             5-10       165         Jr.           Orlando, Fla

Kentucky basketball led by John Calipari will make success more difficult to achieve in the Southeastern Conference, Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said on Monday.

“John raised the bar tremendously for all of us,” Pearl said on a SEC coaches’ teleconference. “. . . He is a big thinker.”

While saying that Calipari brings “great credibility” to the SEC, Pearl said that Kentucky will be more difficult to surpass.

“John in the league is going to make us all better,” he said. “It’s going to be more difficult to win a championship and more difficult to finish ahead of Kentucky.”

In what he called a 90-day “whirlwind” on the job, Calipari recruited the nation’s best class of freshmen. With that comes great expectations.

Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey, who played for UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s, noted how Kentucky is synonymous with basketball success.

“It’s what they’re going to do,” Pelphrey said. “With Cal there, they’re going to do it very, very quickly.”

When a reporter asked about the impact Calipari’s made, Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said, “It’s very obvious the impact he’s had. He’s got you asking me about him in June. That tells you the impact he’s ad on you guys already.”

The SEC is coming off a sub-par season. The league received only three bids to the NCAA Tournament, its fewest since expanding to 12 teams in 1991-92. That’s also the fewest since 1990 when Kentucky was on probation and ineligible for post-season play.

Several coaches suggested that fewer bids and a perception problem for SEC basketball comes when Kentucky endures a poor season. UK failed to make the NCAA Tournament this past season for the first time since 1991.

“From that standpoint, I think the higher ups would tell you it’s better when Kentucky is good,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “But I don’t want Kentucky to be good. We have enough good teams.”

Stallings chuckled and added that the SEC “higher ups” would get their wish.

“That place has always been good,” he said of UK. “And they will continue to be good. . . .

“John has had success everywhere he’s been. To think he would not have success at Kentucky would be foolish.”

LSU Coach Trent Johnson downplayed the importance of Kentucky to the SEC’s basketball profile.

“It doesn’t really matter,” he said. “It’s what you do in late February and March. That’s what’s going to benefit your league.”

Pelphrey offered a personal reason for another SEC coach wanting Kentucky to win. As a UK graduate, he wants Kentucky basketball to succeed in order to stay ahead of North Carolina in terms of all-time victories. Going into next season, Kentucky leads with 1,988 victories. North Carolina has 1,984.

During his playing days, Kentucky slipped to second place before re-claiming first place in all-time victories.

“If you had a bad week, you fell behind,” Pelphrey said.

UK sophomore-to-be Darius Miller is one of four Southeastern Conference players invited to try out for the U.S. team playing in this summer’s World U19 Championships.

The others are Terrico White of Ole Miss (the SEC freshman of the year last season), Georgia forward Howard Thompkins and Florida signee Kenny Boynton.

The USA U19 National Team Trials will be held June 16-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The athletes, born on or after Jan. 1, 1990, will compete for one of 12 roster spots on the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team.

In a news release, Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy welcomed White’s invitation.

“This is a great opportunity for Terrico,” Kennedy said. “It’s great to see him be able to participate in these trials with the ultimate goal of representing our country in the 19 and under world championships. Not only will this experience help Terrico develop as a player, but it also benefits our program as a whole.”

Former UK standout John Pelphrey sent a two-page letter to Arkansas fans who bought season tickets for next season. Pelphrey, who will be entering his third season as Arkansas coach, wanted the fans to know he appreciated their support.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sportswriter Bob Holt quoted fans as saying they couldn’t remember a coach making such a gesture.

Pelphrey said the letter was not sparked by the Razorbacks’ 2-14 SEC record last season. That marked the program’s worst conference record since 1971.

“I don’t think it was something specifically last year in terms of wins and losses,” Pelphrey told the Democrat-Gazette. “I just think it’s important that everybody knows we’ve got a plan and we know what we’re doing and we’re excited about it and working hard.

“We understand who we are and where we’ve got to go and where we want to be some day. We’re committed to that.

“I want them to understand just how appreciative we are for all they do for us as a university and in particular as a basketball program. And I wanted to keep everybody updated on what’s going on.”

Jodie Meeks and four teammates from Kentucky’s men’s basketball team made the Southeastern Conference honor roll for the winter semester.

For Meeks, this marks the third straight year he’s made the SEC honor roll.

Here’s the UK news release:

A total of 45 University of Kentucky student-athletes – second most in the league – were named to the 2008-09 Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has announced.

UK had 13 student-athletes from the men’s swimming team, 12 from women’s swimming, seven from gymnastics, five each from men’s basketball and rifle and three from women’s basketball.

The 2008-09 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2008 Spring, Summer and Fall terms.

(1) A student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution.

(2) If a student-athlete attends summer school, his/her grade point average during the summer academic term must be included in the calculation used to determine eligibility for the Academic Honor Roll.

(3) Student-athletes eligible for the Honor Roll include those receiving an athletics scholarship, recipients of an athletics award (i.e., letter winner), and non-scholarship student-athletes who have been on a varsity team for two seasons.

(4) Prior to being nominated, a student-athlete must have successfully completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of non-remedial academic credit toward a baccalaureate degree at the nominating institution.

(5) The student-athlete must have been a member of a varsity team for the sport’s entire NCAA Championship segment.

Univ. of Kentucky         Sport                Year                 Major

Mark Krebs                   M. Basketball    Junior               Management

Jodie Meeks                  M. Basketball    Junior               Pre-Marketing

Dwight Perry                  M. Basketball    Junior               Management

Michael Porter               M. Basketball    Junior               Management

Matt Scherbenske          M. Basketball    Sophomore        Management

Carly Morrow                 W. Basketball    Sophomore        Pre-Economics

Carly Ormerod               W. Basketball    Senior               Biology

Eleia Roddy                   W. Basketball    Senior               Family Studies

Jacque Behrendt            Gymnastics       Junior               Kinesiology—Exercise Science

Bridget Carreiro              Gymnastics       Senior               Kinesiology & Health Promotion

Hillary Ferguson             Gymnastics       Junior               Kinesiology—Exercise Science

Emily Green                  Gymnastics       Junior               Secondary Education—Social Studies

Phylicia Reshard            Gymnastics       Sophomore        Pre-Marketing

Natalie Rubinstein          Gymnastics       Senior               Kinesiology—Exercise Science

Colleen Williams            Gymnastics       Sophomore        Undergraduate Studies

Leslie Angeli                  Rifle                  Junior               Mathematical Economics

Sarah Broeker               Rifle                  Sophomore        Communications

Logan Fox                     Rifle                  Sophomore        Pre-Marketing

Jennifer Pason              Rifle                  Junior               Biology

Andrew Roland              Rifle                  Senior               Biology

James Batley                M. Swimming    Senior               Economics

Elvis Burrows                M. Swimming    Junior               Hospitality Management & Tourism

Shane Eliason               M. Swimming    Senior               Mathematical Economics

Kyle Greene                  M. Swimming    Junior               Finance

Marco Iemmola              M. Swimming    Junior               Accounting

Justin Max                    M. Swimming    Junior               Political Science

Eric McGinnis                M. Swimming    Junior               Kinesiology—Exercise Science

Travis Muzzillo              M. Swimming    Junior               Economics

Joe Retrum                   M. Swimming    Senior               Psychology

Chris Richard                 M. Swimming    Junior               Finance & Economics

Kevin Ryan                   M. Swimming    Junior               Pre-Chemical Engineering

Justin Smith                  M. Swimming    Senior               Kinesiology—Exercise Science

Dan Vallette                  M. Swimming    Junior               Accounting

Lindsey Graessle           W. Swimming    Sophomore        Special Education— Moderate/Severe

Disabilities

Leah Harms                   W. Swimming    Senior               Integrated Strategic Communication

Casey Miller                  W. Swimming    Junior               Psychology

Christina Morgan            W. Swimming    Junior               Nursing

Jenna Newsome            W. Swimming    Sophomore        Communications

Chatham Penrod            W. Swimming    Junior               Finance & Management

Megan Pulskamp           W. Swimming    Junior               Integrated Strategic Communication

Kelly Rames                  W. Swimming    Senior               Elementary Education

Kayla Sergesketter        W. Swimming    Sophomore        Special Education—Moderate/Severe

Disabilities

Anna Sirmon                 W. Swimming    Junior               Elementary Education

Kristina Sledge              W. Swimming    Senior               Nutrition & Food Science— Hospitality

Management and Tourism

Sydney Witzky             W. Swimming    Junior               Nutrition and Food Science—Dietetics

Of course, Billy Gillispie isn’t the only coach facing speculation about his job security. Another has been Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey.

However, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long dampened such speculation on Thursday when he voiced support for Pelphrey after the Razorbacks endured the program’s worst conference record in 38 years.

“John Pelphrey is our basketball coach,” Long said. “We have to give him time to build this program, and we’re going to do that.

“We want to build the program the right way for the long term.”

Pelphrey, a standout for Kentucky in the early 1990s, has a two-year record at Arkansas of 37-28 overall and 11-21 in the SEC.

Pelphrey inherited a veteran team and guided it to a 23-12 record capped by the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory in nine years.

But after losing six seniors, plus star guard Patrick Beverley, Arkansas struggled to a 14-16 overall record (2-1 in the SEC).

Expectations rose after Arkansas beat then No. 4 Oklahoma and then No. 7 Texas before SEC play began.

“Other than the excitement that was generated when we knocked off Oklahoma and Texas, I think we saw a season that we kind of expected,” Long said. “Although we all got our hopes up high when we had those two big victories and thought the possibility of doing well in the conference was certainly there, if you go back and look at the beginning, we knew we were rebuilding. I know coaches don’t like to use that word, but we were.”

Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks made the first team all-Southeastern Conference team and teammate Patrick Patterson made the second team.

That’s the media’s all-league teams, as sponsored by The Associated Press.

Here’s the release by UK:

Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson were both named All-SEC performers by the Associated Press as announced by the conference office on Monday.

Meeks, who was named First Team All-SEC, leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the country in scoring averaging 24.2 ppg. He set the school record for points in a game (54 at Tennessee) and three-pointers in a season (108) while also shooting 89.4 percent from the free throw line.

Patterson, who was named Second Team All-SEC, is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top five in scoring (fourth – 18.2 ppg) and rebounding (third – 9.4 rpg). He leads the league and ranks 10th nationally in field goal percentage (60.5).

Meeks is the first Wildcat to be named AP first team since Chuck Hayes in the 2005 season.

Both players were named First Team All-SEC by league coaches last week.

Ole Miss is preparing to play Kentucky without leading scorer David Huertas, Coach Andy Kennedy said on Wednesday during the Southeastern Conference Tournament press conferences.

Huertas is hobbled by a bone bruise on his left foot. He did not participate in all of the customary public shootaround on Wednesday.

“I feel better than the past three or four days,” Huertas said. “I hopefully I can do well (against Kentucky).”

In the regular-season victory over UK, Huertas scored 21 points. He comes into the SEC Tournament as the league’s No. 5 scorer (18.2 ppg in conference games.

In preparing for the worst-case scenario, Kennedy said he would prepare as if Huertas would not play.

“If he says he can go, we’ll play him,” the Ole Miss coach said. “If he says he can’t, then we’ll have to make do.”

It’s a season of making do for Ole Miss, which lost three three point guards to injury early this season.

Kentucky and Ole Miss begin the SEC Tournament by tipping off at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Kentucky’s star tandem of Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson made the all-SEC first team, as announced by the league Tuesday morning.

That was the only mention Kentucky got.

Regular-season champion LSU swept the major individual awards as guard Marcus Thornton was named Player of the Year and Trent Johnson Coach of the Year.

Here’s the SEC news release along with the players named to various teams:

The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men’s basketball coaches postseason awards Tuesday to cap off another exciting season of SEC basketball.

LSU’s Trent Johnson earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton was selected SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Ole Miss’ Terrico White took the SEC Freshman of the Year award and Alabama’s Justin Knox earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State was picked as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. South Carolina’s Brandis Raley-Ross earned SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year honors.

In his first season at LSU, Johnson led the Tigers to their first SEC championship since 2006 with a 13-3 mark in league play.

Thornton garnered SEC Player of the Year honors in leading LSU to a 25-win season and the SEC championship. One of five unanimous All-SEC First Team selections, Thornton ranked second the league in scoring with 20.9 ppg.

White led all SEC freshmen with 18.4 ppg in league play. White was among three unanimous All-Freshman team members.

Knox earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sporting a 3.219 grade-point average in Pre-Business.

Varnado leads the nation in blocked shots (4.6) and is 15 blocks shy of the breaking the single-season SEC record of 157. Last year he tied the record Shaquille O’Neal set in 1992.

Raley-Ross won the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award. A key part of South Carolina winning a share of the SEC East Division title, he is averaging 7.2 points per game.

Coaches voted on eight member teams for First Team All-SEC, Second Team All-SEC and for the SEC All-Freshman Team. They voted on a five-player squad for the SEC All-Defensive Team. They were not permitted to vote for their own players and ties were not broken.

A complete list of the 2009 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows.

First Team All-SEC

*Nick Calathes, Florida – G, 6-6, 194, So., Casselberry, Fla.

*Jodie Meeks, Kentucky – 6-4, 208, Jr., Norcross, Ga.

Patrick Patterson, Kentucky – 6-9, 235, So., Huntington, W.Va.

Tasmin Mitchell, LSU – F, 6-7, 240, Jr., Denham Springs, La.

*Marcus Thornton, LSU – G, 6-4, 205, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.

Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.

*Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.

*Tyler Smith, Tennessee – F, 6-7, 215, Jr., Pulaski, Tenn.

Second Team All-SEC

Alonzo Gee, Alabama – G, 6-6, 219, Sr., Riviera Beach, Fla.

Michael Washington, Arkansas – F, 6-9, 239, Jr., McGehee, Ark.

Korvotney Barber, Auburn – F, 6-7, 225, Sr., Manchester, Ga.

^Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.

David Huertas, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 200, Jr., Humacao, Puerto Rico

Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.

^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.

^Zam Fredrick, South Carolina – G, 6-0, 203, Sr., St. Matthews, S.C.

Wayne Chism, Tennessee – F, 609, 242, Jr., Jackson, Tenn.

A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt – C, 6-11, 250, So., Sydney, Australia

SEC All-Freshman Team

*JaMychal Green, Alabama – F, 6-9, 220, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.

Courtney Fortson, Arkansas – G, 5-11, 180, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.

Erving Walker, Florida – 5-8, 161, Fr., New York, N.Y.

Trey Thompkins, Georgia – F, 6-8, 245, Fr., Lithonia, Ga.

*Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.

*Dee Bost, Mississippi State – G, 6-2, 170, Fr., Concord, N.C.

Scotty Hopson, Tennessee – G, 6-7, 185, Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.

Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt – G/F, 6-7, 210, Fr., Norrkoping, Sweden

SEC All-Defensive Team

^Quantez Robertson, Auburn – G, 6-3, 200, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio

Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.

Chris Johnson, LSU – C, 6-11, 210, Sr., Montross, Va.

*Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.

^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.

Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.

SEC Coach of the Year: Trent Johnson, LSU

SEC Player of the Year: Marcus Thornton, LSU

SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Justin Knox, Alabama

SEC Freshman of the Year: Terrico White, Ole Miss

SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Brandis Raley-Ross, South Carolina

SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

*-Unanimous selection

^-Ties are not broken