Nov. 12, 2015
Vanderbilt junior Damian Jones was named to the All-SEC first team by the league’s coaches, while Riley LaChance was named to the second team in an announcement made by the league office on Thursday.
Jones led the Commodores a year ago in points and rebounds, averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, respectively. He was a first-team All-SEC selection at the end of the 2014-15 season, led the SEC in field goal percentage at 56.2%, and scored 20 or more points in eight games last season.
LaChance led all freshmen in scoring last year after averaging 12.3 points per contest, was named to the SEC All-Freshman team, and garnered four SEC Freshman of the Week honors, the most by any Commodore in program history. LaChance finished the 2014-15 season third on VU’s single-season freshman scoring list with 429 points and 4th on the freshman assist list with 102.
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.
All 14 SEC teams officially tip-off the 2015-16 campaign this weekend, beginning with 13 teams hitting the court Friday night. Conference play is set to begin on January 2 and the 2016 SEC Tournament will be March 9-13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
A list of the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Coaches Preseason All-SEC team follows:
First Team All-SEC
Dorian Finney-Smith – Florida, F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.
Kenny Gaines – Georgia, G, 6-3, 205, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.
Skal Labissiere – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 225, Fr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tyler Ulis – Kentucky, G, 5-9, 160, So., Lima, Ohio
Ben Simmons – LSU, F, 6-10, 225, Fr., Melbourne, Australia,
Stefan Moody – Ole Miss, G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Danuel House – Texas A&M, G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas,
Damian Jones – Vanderbilt, C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.
Second Team All-SEC
Jamal Murray – Kentucky, G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario
Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 230, Sr., Clarksville, Tenn.
Tim Quarterman – LSU, G, 6-6, 190, Jr., Savannah, Ga.
Malik Newman – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 178, Fr., Jackson, Miss.
Craig Sword – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 196, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
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
Riley LaChance – Vanderbilt, G, 6-2, 182, So., Brookfield, Wis.