AJ Lawson, of South Carolina basketball, receives all the honors of the conference.
South Carolina fought for most of the year, hobbling to an overall record of 6 to 14 and finishing 12th in the Southeast Conference ranking. Still, there were a few individual artists who stood out throughout the season.
One such artist was junior guard AJ Lawson, who was named a member of the second team for the entire conference after averaging the Gamecocks in scoring for the third consecutive year.
Lawson recorded the best mark of his career, 16.9 points per game, with 40% shooting, while adding 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals. The Toronto native was South Carolina’s most consistent three-point threat, connecting in 35.6% of his attempts beyond the arc.
This is the second time Lawson has brought home honors from the SEC, after also being named to the All-Freshman team in 2018-19.
Find the other prizes in the league below.
First All-SEC Team
- Herbert Jones, Alabama
- John Petty Jr., Alabama
- Moses Moody
- Tre Mann
- Cameron Thomas, LSU
- Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss
- Dru Smith, Missouri
- Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt
Second All-SEC Team
- Jaden Shackelford, Alabama
- Colin Castleton, Florida
- Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia
- Javonte Smart, LSU
- Trendon Watford, LSU
- DJ Stewart Jr., State of Mississippi
- Jeremiah Tilmon, Missouri
- AJ Lawson, South Carolina
All-Freshman Team
- Joshua Primo, Alabama
- Moses Moody
- Sharife Cooper, Auburn
- KD Johnson, Georgia
- Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky
- Cameron Thomas, LSU
- Keon Johnson, Tennessee
- Jaden Springer, Tennessee
Totally defensive team
- Herbert Jones, Alabama
- Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky
- Abdul Ado, state of Mississippi
- Dru Smith, Missouri
- Yves Pons, Tennessee
Coach of the year: Nate Oats
Player of the year: Herbert Jones, Alabama
Academic Athlete of the Year: Dylan Disu, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the year: Moses Moody
Sixth Man of the Year: JD Notae, Arkansas
Defensive player of the year: Herbert Jones, Alabama
There are two notable absences from the point of view of South Carolina.
First, no Gamecock was nominated for the All-Defensive team. Frank Martin has had a player who has won the honor in four of the past five seasons, but for the second year in a row, no Gamecock has been selected. This year’s defensive game was a weakness, with South Carolina finishing last in the defensive scoring conference (79 ppg), and playing what Martin called selfish basketball.
Second, striker Keyshawn Bryant was dismissed from the nomination after averaging 14.4 points per game in 2020-21. That number jumped to 15.8 points per game at the conference, with Bryant scoring double digits in 13 of the SEC’s 15 fights. Junior did this with 48% of pitches and proved that it can be more than just a high-flying dunk highlight.
Frank Martin will take Bryant, Lawson and the rest of the team to the SEC Tournament this week, starting with a fight on Thursday night with Ole Miss’s sixth head.