Billy Kennedy named SEC Coach of the Year, five Aggies make All-SEC teams

Here's hoping Texas A&M cleared some more room in the trophy case.

Joining the Aggies' SEC regular season title on the shelf will be a few more All-SEC mentions — and one big, bold award for Billy Kennedy.

The conference released its postseason awards on Tuesday, naming A&M's fifth-year coach SEC Coach of the Year.

Under Kennedy's watch this season the Aggies, who were picked to finish third in the conference, tied Kentucky for first and beat the Wildcats head-to-head to take the tiebreaker and SEC Tournament's No. 1 seed. A&M was also the only SEC team to post a winning road record in conference play this season.

The Ags' win total improved by three (and counting) over the 2014-15 season, with the entire postseason ahead.

Well deserved, Coach.

Meanwhile, Jalen Jones landed on the First Team All-SEC roster one year after garnering Second Team honors. Danuel House and Alex Caruso were named Second Team All-SEC, with Caruso also finding a spot on the All-Defensive Team. D.J. Hogg and Tyler Davis were given All-Freshman team nods.

A&M will attempt to back it all up on Friday when it plays the winner of the Florida-Arkansas 8/9 game in Nashville.

Here is the SEC's press release in its entirety.

---

Birmingham, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men’s basketball coaches’ postseason awards Tuesday to cap off another exciting season of SEC basketball.
 
Texas A&M’s Billy Kennedy earned SEC Coach of the Year honors while Kentucky sophomore Tyler Ulis was selected the SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Ulis was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Alabama’s Retin Obasohan earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, LSU’s Ben Simmons was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Year and South Carolina’s Duane Notice 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.
 
A complete list of the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows:
 
First Team All-SEC
Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium
Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.
Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia
Stefan Moody, Ole Miss – G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Michael Carrera, South Carolina – F, 6-5, 214, Sr., Anzoátegui, Venezuela
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M – G/F, 6-7, 220, Sr., Dallas, Texas
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt – C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.
 
Second Team All-SEC
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria
Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida – F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.
J.J. Frazier, Georgia – 5-10, 155, G, Jr., Glennville, Ga.
Yante Maten, Georgia – 6-8, 240, F, So., Pontiac, Mich.
Kevin Punter Jr., Tennessee – G, 6-2, 190, Sr., Bronx, N.Y.
Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas
Danuel House, Texas A&M – G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas
Wade Baldwin IV, Vanderbilt – G, 6-3, 194, So., Belle Mead, N.J.

SEC All-Freshman Team
KeVaughn Allen, Florida – G, 6-2, 183, Fr., Little Rock, Ark.
Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario
Antonio Blakeney, LSU – G, 6-4, 190, Fr., Sarasota, Fla.
Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State – G, 6-4, 202, Fr., Canton, Miss.
Kevin Puryear, Missouri – F, 6-7, 236, Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M – C, 6-10, 265, Fr., Plano, Texas
DJ Hogg, Texas A&M – F, 6-8, 216, Fr., Plano, Texas
 
SEC All-Defensive Team
Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina – G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Lancaster, S.C.
Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt – F, 7-1, 240, Jr., Lantana, Texas
 
SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M
SEC Player of the Year: Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Retin Obasohan, Alabama
SEC Freshman of the Year: Ben Simmons, LSU
SECSixth-Man of the Year: Duane Notice, South Carolina
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Tyler Ulis, Kentucky