Brandon Miller named SEC player and freshman of the year
SEC coaches voted Brandon Miller as the player of the year and freshman of the year for the conference, the league announced Monday.
He is the fourth Alabama player to earn player of the year since the SEC’s coaches began voting in 1987. Derrick McKey won that year, Erin Dudley won in 2002 and Herbert Jones won in 2021.
Miller is the third Alabama player to win freshman of the year since coaches began voting in 2001. Mo Williams won in 2002 and Collin Sexton was a co-winner in 2018.
Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in 2012 was the last player to win both the coaches’ player and freshman of the year awards in the same season.
Miller leads the conference in scoring at 19.6 points per game this season.
Miller was the Tide’s only selection on the coaches’ all-SEC first team. Guard Mark Sears made the second team, center Charles Bediako made the all-defensive team and Miller, guard Jaden Bradley and forward Noah Clowney made the all-freshman team. Jahvon Quinerly was co-sixth man of the year.
The Associated Press is expected to release its SEC awards later this week.
Miller is one of 15 players being considered for the Oscar Robertson Trophy as the USBWA’s national player of the year, but he was not among the final 15 for the Wooden Award announced Saturday. The Naismith national player of the year award will name its semifinalists Friday.
Alabama finished 16-2 in the SEC this season, earning a regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament. It will begin play in the quarterfinals Friday against the winner of Thursday’s game between Mississippi State and Florida.
The full list of the SEC coaches’ awards:
All-SEC First Team
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Colin Castleton, Florida
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Tolu Smith, Mississippi State
Kobe Brown, Missouri
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt
All-SEC Second Team
Mark Sears, Alabama
Anthony Black, Arkansas
Ricky Council IV, Arkansas
Johni Broome, Auburn
Wendell Green Jr., Auburn
KJ Williams, LSU
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M
All-Defensive Team
Charles Bediako, Alabama
Davonte Davis, Arkansas
Colin Castleton, Florida
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Jaden Bradley, Alabama
Noah Clowney, Alabama
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Anthony Black, Arkansas
Riley Kugel, Florida
Chris Livingston, Kentucky
Cason Wallace, Kentucky
Gregory “GG” Jackson II, South Carolina
Julian Phillips, Tennessee
Co-Coach of the Year: Buzz Williams, Texas A&M & Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt
Player of the Year: Brandon Miller, Alabama
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kobe Brown, Missouri
Freshman of the Year: Brandon Miller, Alabama
Co-Sixth-Man of the Year: Jahvon Quinerly, Alabama & Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.