Coming off the bench while healing from a torn ACL, Jahvon Quinerly reached a milestone for Alabama men’s basketball.

The Southeastern Conference announced its awards on Tuesday, naming Quinerly its co-Sixth Man of the year. Quinerly, who averaged 8.0 points and 3.7 assists in 28 games, became the first UA player to win the award. He’ll split the honor with Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves, as voted on by SEC coaches.

Quinerly was a five-star recruit from Hudson (N.J.) Catholic and originally committed to Villanova. He transferred and played his first season with the Crimson Tide in 2021. He guided Alabama to its first conference tournament win in 20 years, being named the most outstanding player. Last year, Quinerly injured himself in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament but returned in November.

Of late, Quinerly has reached “March JQ” status, as Tide coach Nate Oats has referred to the 6-foot-1 guard. In Alabama’s last three games, he’s totaled 16, 24, and 12 points. Quinerly is shooting 51.3% from the field in that span. He’s been a secondary scorer to Brandon Miller, who was named SEC player and freshman of the year.

In addition to Quinerly and Miller (an All-SEC first-team selection), center Charles Bediako earned All-SEC first-team defense honors. Mark Sears made the All-SEC second-team. Jaden Bradley and Noah Clowney joined Miller on the All-SEC freshman team.

The conference tournament begins Wednesday in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Alabama’s first game is on Friday, when it’ll play either Mississippi State or Florida.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].