Trio of Gamecocks earn SEC postseason honors
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
A trio of Gamecocks deservedly took home All-SEC honors Tuesday.
Chris Silva raked in the awards today, earning a First-Team nods and All-Defensive team selection while Hassani Gravett is the conference's sixth man of the year and A.J. Lawson is one of eight first-year players named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
Over the last three years now the have three first team All-SEC selections, the Player of the Year (Sindarius Thornwell), Defensive Player of the Year (Silva) and now Sixth Man of the Year in Gravett.
They also have three defensive All-SEC selections.
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The senior is coming off a historic week where he earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career after averaging over 20 points in two wins and hauled in a career-high 17 rebounds against Texas A&M.
Silva had a senior year to remember, finishing 16th in the SEC in offensive rating, second in percent of possessions used and top 10 in effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage and defensive rebounding percentage.
He had the best fouls drawn per 40 minutes and the second-best free throw rate in the SEC this year while also finishing fourth in block percentage.
Silva's averaging 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds this season while shooting almost 50 percent from the field as the Gamecocks (16-15, 11-7 SEC) get ready to start their conference tournament.
Gravett had a breakout season in his senior year, averaging 7.2 points and 2.4 assists per game and shooting a career-best 41.3 percent from three.
He's also shooting almost 42 percent from the field and has been a big part of the Gamecocks' success in conference play.
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Lawson had a big year as a freshman. Despite missing the last three games with injuries, he started 28 games this season and avearaged 13.9 points and shot 41.3 percent from the field as one of the better freshmen in the league.
Despite missing those games with an ankle injury, Lawson also finished top 20 in scoring in the league.
First Team All-SEC
Daniel Gafford, Arkansas
PJ Washington, Kentucky
Tremont Waters, LSU
Breein Tyree, Ole Miss
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi St.
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Admiral Schofield, Tennessee
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
Bryce Brown, Auburn
Jared Harper, Auburn
Nicolas Claxton, Georgia
Tyler Herro, Kentucky
Keldon Johnson, Kentucky
Skylar Mays, LSU
Terence Davis, Ole Miss
Jordan Bone, Tennessee
All-Freshman Team
Kira Lewis Jr., Alabama
Isaiah Joe, Arkansas
Andrew Nembhard, Florida
Tyler Herro, Kentucky
Keldon Johnson, Kentucky
Naz Reid, LSU
Reggie Perry, Mississippi State
A.J. Lawson, South Carolina
All-Defensive Team
Donta Hall, Alabama
Daniel Gafford, Arkansas
Ashton Hagans, Kentucky
Tremont Waters, LSU
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Awards
Coach of the Year: Kermit Davis, Ole Miss
Player of the Year: Grant Williams, Tennessee
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Skylar Mays, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Keldon Johnson, Kentucky
Sixth-Man of the Year: Hassani Gravett, South Carolina
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Tremont Waters, LSU & Ashton Hagans, Kentucky