Senior Kevin Punter only Vol to earn All-SEC honors
Tennessee’s own Kevin Punter Jr. was selected to the All-SEC second team on Tuesday. The senior averaged 22 points per game this past season.
[title_box title=”Senior Kevin Punter only Vol to earn All-SEC honors”]
Earlier today, Tennessee’s senior guard Kevin Punter Jr. was named to the All-SEC second team, the only Vol to nab any All-SEC honors.
This second-team selection is his second SEC honor of the year for Punter. He was named to the 2015-2016 SEC Community Service Team last Friday.
Punter’s 2015-2016 season was a breakout year after switching to point guard. He averaged 22.2 points per game, good enough for second in the SEC and No. 12 in the NCAA overall. Punter scored 20 or more points in 18 games, and eclipsed the 30-point plateau on three occasions.
In his press conference on Monday, Head coach Rick Barnes said, “I know how he worked at trying to learn a new position and I can tell you that before him getting hurt, he was definitely playing like a first team All-Southeastern Conference player.”
This quote from Barnes is a perspective many people have. After finishing as the second leading scorer in the entire conference, he certainly has the numbers to warrant a first-team All-SEC selection.
Punter’s performance dipped a little over his final three games of the season, shooting just 11-of-34 from the field, and averaging only 14.7 points.
Still, after a rocky 13-18 season (6-12 SEC) by the Volunteers, Punter was unquestionably one of the few bright spots on the team.
According to utsports.com, Punter’s All-SEC honor marks the 11th consecutive season a Volunteer has been a first or second-team All-SEC honoree.
Featured image courtesy of Ryan Glenn
Edited by David Bradford
Dalton, a firm believer that sporting events are best spent on Twitter, is an Assistant Sports Editor for TNJN and a sophomore studying Journalism at the University of Tennessee. Two of his favorite pastimes include beating his roommates at 2k and remaining in awe of the amount of stories fellow editor David Bradford writes. Twitter: @dk_writes
