Five Kentucky players were selected to the 2015 SEC Men’s Basketball Coaches’ preseason teams, the league office announced Thursday. Sophomores Aaron and Andrew Harrison were tabbed to the first team, while juniors Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress and freshman Karl-Anthony Towns were second-team selections.
Eleven different schools were represented on the two teams, but UK led the league with five selections. Florida and LSU each had two selections. In all, 29 different players received votes for the coaches’ teams.
The coaches’ preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC head men’s basketball coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made.
Aaron Harrison is UK’s leading returning scorer after averaging 13.7 points per game during his freshman campaign. Harrison logged 13 points and three assists per game in UK’s two exhibition contests in 2014. Andrew Harrison started 39 games as a freshman and dished out 159 assists, which ranks third among all-time UK first-year players. Harrison posted a team-high 15 dimes in Kentucky’s two exhibition games.
Cauley-Stein has seen action in 66 career games and has averaged 7.5 points and 6.1 rebounds during his first two seasons in a UK uniform. Poythress has appeared in a team-high 73 games in his career while making 31 starts. The Clarksville, Tenn., native averages 8.3 points per game and shoots at a .544 clip for his career. Towns was the lone first-year player selected to either preseason team by the league’s coaches. In UK’s two exhibition games, Towns averaged team-bests in points (17.5) and field-goal percentage (93.8).
The Wildcats open their 2014-15 campaign with three games in six days beginning on Friday. UK tips off with Grand Canyon at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
2015 Preseason Coaches’ All-SEC Teams:
First Team All-SEC
Dorian Finney-Smith – Florida, F, 6-8, 218, Jr., Portsmouth, Va.
Michael Frazier II – Florida, G, 6-4, 194, Jr., Tampa, Fla.
Aaron Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 212, So., Richmond, Texas
Andrew Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 210, So., Richmond, Texas
Damian Jones – Vanderbilt, C, 6-10, 240, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Alpharetta, Ga.
Jordan Mickey – LSU, F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Bobby Portis – Arkansas, F, 6-11, 242, So., Little Rock, Ark.
Jarvis Summers – Ole Miss, G, 6-3, 186, Sr., Jackson, Miss.
Second Team All-SEC
Alex Caruso – A&M, G, 6-5, 184, Jr., College Station, Texas
Willie Cauley-Stein – Kentucky, F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
KT Harrell – Auburn, G, 6-4, 212, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
Jarell Martin – LSU, F, 6-10, 236, So., Baton Rouge, La.
Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 238, Jr., Clarksville, Tenn.
Josh Richardson – Tennessee, G, 6-6, 200, Sr., Edmond, Okla.
Sindarius Thornwell – South Carolina, G, 6-5, 215, So., Lancaster, S.C.
Karl-Anthony Towns – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.
