BATON ROUGE – For the first time since 2009, two members of the LSU men’s basketball team have been named to first-team All-SEC as selected by the league coaches and announced Tuesday by the Southeastern Conference office.
Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin, LSU’s two star forwards that have combined to average almost 33 points and just under 19 rebounds were named to the nine-man first team. Mickey, who blocked 106 shots in the regular season, was named to the league’s All-Defensive team for the second straight season.
Martin averaged 16.9 points per game and 9.0 rebounds, making 51.5 percent of his field goal attempts (191-of-371) and 71.5 percent of free throws (128-179). Mickey averaged 16.0 points per game and 9.9 rebounds, making 51.7 percent of his shot attempts (187-of-362).
It marks the first time since 2009 that two Tigers were first-team selection and that was guard Marcus Thornton and forward Tasmin Mitchell. In all, there have been 13 years since the 1933-34 season that LSU has had two players earn first-team honors in one of the recognized major wire-service or coaches selections.
Mickey and Martin were both All-Freshman selections a year ago on the coaches’ team while Mickey was second-team All-SEC and a member of the All-Defensive team.
Kentucky’s John Calipari earned SEC Coach of the Year honors while Arkansas sophomore Bobby Portis was selected the SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Alabama’s Levi Randolph earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Karl-Anthony Towns was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Year and Devin Booker was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year.
First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, All-Defensive team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman, Defensive, Sixth-Man and Scholar-Athlete of the Year were chosen by the league’s 14 coaches. Ties were not broken and coaches could not vote for their own nominees.
A complete list of the 2015 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows:
First Team All-SEC
Bobby Portis, Arkansas – F, 6-11, 242, So., Little Rock, Ark.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky – F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky – F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.
Jarell Martin, LSU – F, 6-10, 236, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Jordan Mickey, LSU – F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Stefan Moody, Ole Miss – G, 5-10, 179, Jr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Josh Richardson, Tennessee – G, 6-6, 200, Sr., Edmond, Okla.
Danuel House, Texas A&M – G, 6-7, 207, Jr., Fresno, Texas
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt – C, 6-10, 240, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Second Team All-SEC
Levi Randolph, Alabama – G, 6-5, 210, Sr., Madison, Ala.
Michael Qualls, Arkansas – G, 6-6, 210, Jr., Shreveport, La.
KT Harrell, Auburn – G, 6-4, 212, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida – F, 6-8, 218, Jr., Portsmouth, Va.
Marcus Thornton, Georgia – F, 6-8, 235, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Devin Booker, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 206, Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Aaron Harrison, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 212, So., Richmond, Texas
Craig Sword, Mississippi State – G, 6-3, 194, Jr., Montgomery, Ala.
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M – G/F, 6-7, 223, Jr., Dallas, Texas
SEC All-Freshman Team
Anton Beard, Arkansas – G, 6-0, 190, Fr., North Little Rock, Ark.
Devin Robinson, Florida – F, 6-8, 178, Fr., Chesterfield, Va.
Devin Booker, Kentucky – G, 6-6, 206, Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Trey Lyles, Kentucky – F, 6-10, 235, Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky – F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 155, Fr., Lima, Ohio
Wade Baldwin IV, Vanderbilt – G, 6-3, 195, Fr., Belle Mead, N.J.
Riley LaChance, Vanderbilt – G, 6-2, 194, Fr., Brookfield, Wisc.
SEC All-Defensive Team
Marcus Thornton, Georgia – F, 6-8, 235, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky – F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Jordan Mickey, LSU – F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Josh Richardson, Tennessee – G, 6-6, 200, Sr., Edmond, Okla.
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt –C, 6-10, 240, So., Baton Rouge, La.
SEC Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky
SEC Player of the Year: Bobby Portis, Arkansas
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Levi Randolph, Alabama
SEC Freshman of the Year: Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Devin Booker, Kentucky
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky