Hubbs, Williams named to All-SEC teams
Robert Hubbs III and Grant Williams garnered SEC honors after gritty seasons.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee forward #2 Grant Williams bends to shoot a free throw during the Vols’ win over Alabama in Thompson-Boling Arena on March 4, 2017.
SEC coaches voted Tennessee senior Robert Hubbs III and Grant Williams to the league’s All-SEC teams, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Hubbs was named a Second Team All-SEC selection while Williams was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
The selections marked the 33rd consecutive season in which Tennessee has had at least one player named to the first team, second team, or all-freshman SEC teams. Williams is the first Vol freshman to be named to the conference all-freshman team since Jarnell Stokes in 2012.
Hubbs led the Vols with 13.9 points a game during the 2016-17 regular season, a career high. His career in Knoxville was a strange one — Hubbs played for three separate coaches (Cuonzo Martin, Donnie Tyndall, Rick Barnes) and played through a few seasons with the program’s future in question. Hubbs joined the 1,000-point club on Feb. 22 against Vanderbilt, the 48th Tennessee basketball player to do so.
Williams came on strong in the late part of the Vols’ season, scoring 10 or more points in 11 of Tennessee’s last 13 games. He averaged 12.8 points a game this season, scoring 30 points twice — becoming the first Vol freshman to do so since Allan Houston during the 1989-90 season. His 5.5 rebounds per game and 2.0 blocks per game led the Vols.
Coaches voted South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell as the league’s Player of the Year and Florida’s Mike White as the league’s Coach of the Year. Kentucky led all teams with six combined selections on the first team, second team and all-freshman teams.
Edited by David Bradford
Featured image by Brad Blackwelder
Nathan is a junior at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He spends most of his free time eating meaningless foods and watching sports. If you wish to contact Nathan, you can email him at wodom3@vols.utk.edu or find him on Twitter, @NathanOdom11.
