I’ve written since the end of last basketball season that I thought Moses Kingsley would be a legit SEC Player of the Year candidate this season, but I never expected him to be the preseason favorite for the award.
And that’s what has just happened. SEC Basketball Media Days are this week and Kingsley was voted Preseason Player of the Year by the SEC media.
Kingsley is coming off a 2nd Team All-SEC junior season (we argued he should have been 1st Team, but whatever) after averaging 15.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks while shooting 54.8% from the floor. He notched double-doubles in 16 games, most of any high-major player in the country, and one of only three players with multiple 20-point, 10-rebound, 5-block games. Kingsley considered turning professional after the 2016 season but opted to come back to Arkansas for his senior season.
It will not be easy to win the Player of the Year award. Kingsley joins Joe Johnson and Ronnie Brewer as the only three Hogs to be named Preseason POY, and neither Johnson nor Brewer ended up winning it after the season was over. Corliss Williamson and Bobby Portis are the only two Razorbacks who have won the Player of the Year award.
Also at SEC Media Days, Arkansas was picked 5th in the SEC. Fellow senior Dusty Hannahs was also named to the Jerry West Award Watch List for the best shooter in the country.
First Team All-SEC
Moses Kingsley – Arkansas
J.J. Frazier – Georgia
Edrice “Bam” Adebayo – Kentucky
De’Aaron Fox – Kentucky
Tyler Davis – Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
KeVaughn Allen – Florida
Yante Maten – Georgia
Isaiah Briscoe – Kentucky
Malik Monk – Kentucky
Antonio Blakeney – LSU
Quinndary Weatherspoon – Mississippi State
Luke Kornet – Vanderbilt
Preseason Media 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