MOUNTAIN BROOK | The University of Alabama men’s basketball team was selected No. 7 in the media’s preseason prognostication of the 2018-2019 Southeastern Conference basketball season.
Crimson Tide head coach Avery Johnson did not take that as a slight.
“You might see eight or nine teams in our league fighting for an NCAA bid,” Johnson said. “Look at where this league is now, much further than where it was when I got here (three years ago). We’ve added coaches like Rick Barnes, Ben Howland. It’s a great league.”
Many of the questions directed at Johnson and Crimson Tide players John Petty and Herb Jones during the Wednesday morning media session focused on a player who won’t be a part of this year’s team: Collin Sexton, now a starting guard for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I don’t think we were a one-man team,” Petty said. “Collin shouldered a lot of the load sometimes but we had other guys, Herb and myself and Donta (Hall), Avery (Johnson) Junior and we’ve all had a lot of experience. Plus we add Tevin Mack and Kira Lewis and we get Riley Norris back.”
“We may not have a guy that gets 20 (points) a game but maybe we will have three or four who get 14 or 15 a game to make up for that,”Johnson said.
The extra depth will also lend to increased defensive pressure.
“We’ve had a lot of media guys come through and comment on our length in the mid-court and our size,” Johnson said. “When you have Herb, Petty, Dazon (Ingram) and Mack in the midcourt and then Daniel Giddens, who has really worked hard, and Donta guarding the basket, you can pressure teams.”
KENTUCKY WAS predicted to win the 2019 SEC Conference men’s basketball championship in the media voting .
Kentucky’s Reid Travis (a transfer from Stanford), LDU’s Tremont Waters, South Carolina’s Chris Silva, Williams and Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford were the All-SEC First Team selections.
First Team All-SEC
Daniel Gafford – Arkansas
Reid Travis – Kentucky
Tremont Waters – LSU
Chris Silva – South Carolina
Grant Williams – Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
Bryce Brown – Auburn
Jared Harper – Auburn
Jalen Hudson – Florida
PJ Washington – Kentucky
Quinndary Weatherspoon – Mississippi State
Jontay Porter – Missouri
Admiral Schofield – Tennessee
SEC Player of the Year
Grant Williams – Tennessee
Preseason Media Poll
1. Kentucky
2. Tennessee
3. Auburn
4. Mississippi State
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Alabama
8. Vanderbilt
9. Missouri
10. Arkansas
11. South Carolina
12. Texas A&M
13. Georgia
14. Ole Miss
Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.
