March 7, 2017
Commodore senior center Luke Kornet has been named the Scholar Athlete of the Year and to the All-SEC First Team and All-Defensive Team by Southeastern Conference head coaches for his play on the court and for his academic exploits off of it in the 2016-17 season. Kornet, from Lantana, Texas, becomes Vanderbilt’s first ever men’s basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year, which was established in 2004 by the SEC.
Kornet, who was named a second-team Academic All-American by CoSida earlier this month, has a 3.71 cumulative GPA and is majoring in Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics.
On the court, Kornet has started all 31 games and is averaging 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game this season. He has scored in double digits in 24 games, and in his career, is one block short of Vanderbilt’s career record of 204 by former Commodores Festus Ezeli.
Kornet’s first-team honor is the program’s 58th selection since 1949 and his first appearance on the first team. Kornet is the third Commodore player to be named to the All-Defensive team (Damian Jones, Jeffery Taylor others), and the second player to be named to the team multiple times (Taylor – 2010-12).
The Commodores open SEC Tournament play this Thursday against Texas A&M at 6 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena.
First Team All-SEC
KeVaughn Allen, Florida
J.J. Frazier, Georgia
Yante Maten, Georgia
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Sebastian Saiz, Ole Miss
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Kasey Hill, Florida
Bam Adebayo, Kentucky
Antonio Blakeney, LSU
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Miss State
Robert Hubbs III, Tennessee
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M
Robert Williams, Texas A&M
All-Freshman Team
Braxton Key, Alabama
Mustapha Heron, Auburn
Bam Adebayo, Kentucky
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Lamar Peters, Mississippi St.
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Robert Williams, Texas A&M
All-Defensive Team
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Kasey Hill, Florida
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Robert Williams, Texas A&M
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt
Coach of the Year: Mike White, Florida
Player of the Year: Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Malik Monk, Kentucky
Sixth-Man of the Year: Canyon Barry, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Robert Williams, Texas A&M
