With the Southeastern Conference’s regular season winding down this week and the league tournament cranking up next week, the men’s basketball individual awards are right around the corner.
If it was up to South Carolina coach Frank Martin, the 2018 SEC player of the year as voted on by the coaches – Tennessee forward Grant Williams – would be the 2019 winner as well.
“I haven’t put that hat on yet, but you have to think about those things,” Martin said Monday on a league teleconference. “They won the league last year and are in first place again this year, and he is having a better statistical year this year than he did last year. I don’t see how you can’t.
“If he would have had a down year and they kept winning, then OK, but once you’ve worn that crown, it’s hard to take it away from you if you’re performing better. His team continues to win, and he continues to lead them.”
Williams a year ago became the first Volunteer to be named by coaches as the SEC’s premier player, with that honor having been established in 1987. The 6-foot-7, 236-pounder from Charlotte averaged 15.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game last season and has averaged 19.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 32.2 minutes so far this season.
His shooting percentage has jumped from .473 last season to a staggering .567 now.
Williams has turned heads on numerous occasions this season, most notably with a 43-point performance that included a 23-of-23 showing at the free-throw line at Vanderbilt on Jan. 23. He also had the game-winning drive and basket during last Wednesday’s 73-71 win at Ole Miss.
“Every close game they’ve had, when the game is on the line, the ball is in his hands, and he’s made the play,” Martin said. “I’m not trying to knock anyone else. I know PJ Washington has had a heck of a year, and the point guard at LSU is special and should be in that conversation, but in the attention I’ve paid to it, I think it’s still Grant Williams.”
Washington, a 6-8 sophomore forward for Kentucky, is averaging 14.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in 29.0 minutes of action, and he also has a stellar .524 shooting clip. LSU’s Tremont Waters has averaged 15.3 points and 5.8 assists for Will Wade’s Tigers, who would be the SEC tournament’s top seed if the season already had ended.
Tennessee has produced multiple winners of the Associated Press SEC player of the year, including two-time recipients Bernard King (1976-77) and Dale Ellis (1982-83). The last Vols player to receive that honor was guard Chris Lofton in 2007, with Georgia’s Yante Maten having won it last year.
Williams would be the first two-time winner of the coaches’ vote since Corliss Williamson of Arkansas in 1994-95.
“I think Grant has had a great year, and we all know how important he is to us,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “You look around the league, and there is a case to be made for a lot of guys. There is terrific basketball in this league.”
Scramble for fourth
LSU (14-2), Tennessee (14-2) and Kentucky (13-3) are assured of receiving double byes in next week’s conference tournament, which means they do not have to play until Friday’s quarterfinal round. The fourth and final double bye is completely up for grabs with five teams currently in a 9-7 logjam: Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina.
Alabama, which hosts Auburn Tuesday night, is right behind that quintet at 8-8.
“We can finish fourth, and we can finish ninth,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “That’s quite a spread and quite a swing, and it speaks to just how competitive the league has been this year.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.