Aggies Pegged Third in SEC Preseason Poll; Williams and Davis Honored

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A pair of Aggies garnered preseason accolades and the Texas A&M men's basketball team was predicted to finish third in the Southeastern Conference after voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.
 
Robert Williams stood out in the voting as the Aggie sophomore was selected First Team Preseason All-SEC as well as Preseason SEC Player of the Year, a distinction he shared with Yante Maten of Georgia and Michael Porter, Jr., of Missouri.
 
Joining Williams on the list of honorees was junior center Tyler Davis, who garnered a spot on the Preseason All-SEC Second Team, giving Texas A&M one of the top front courts in the country heading into the 2017-18 campaign.
 
A native of Oil City, La., Williams came to Texas A&M ranked as the nation's No. 50 recruit by ESPN but developed into one of the country's brightest rookies in Aggieland. Williams notched 11 double-doubles last season, the second most among all SEC players, while averaging a near double-double during league play with 12.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest. Also in league play, Williams led the SEC in blocked shots (46), while ranking second in both rebounding (9.6 per game), offensive rebounding (3.6 offensive rebounds per game) and field goal percentage (.542).
 
On the defensive end, Williams stood out as one of the NCAA's most disruptive forces. He owns the nation's longest active blocked shot streak, having collected a swat in every game a year ago, while posting 22 multi-block games as well as eight games with four or more blocks. A three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, Williams' 77 total blocked shots were 20^th-most among all Division-I player last season and the second most by an Aggie for a single season, trailing only David Harris' 108 in 1989-90.
 
Following the conclusion of his sophomore campaign, Davis was honored by the SEC coaches for the second straight season with a second-team selection after garnering SEC All-Freshman team accolades the year prior. The Plano, Texas, native paced the SEC and ranked 14^th nationally in field goal percentage by converting 62.9 percent of his shot attempts. Davis averaged 14.1 points per contest last season to rank 13^th in the league and pulled down 7.0 boards per contest, checking in at eighth in the conference in rebounding.
 
Davis notched four double-doubles last season and was also named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VII Team. Both players were named to NBC Sports' list of Preseason All-Americans by NBC Sports in September.
 
Kentucky was predicted to win the SEC by the media voters as the Wildcats stood out as the preseason favorite for the 13^th time since the 1998-99 season.
 
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PRESEASON FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

KeVaughn Allen – Florida
Yante Maten – Georgia
Hamidou Diallo – Kentucky
Michael Porter, Jr. – Missouri
Robert Williams – Texas A&M
 

PRESEASON SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC

Collin Sexton – Alabama
Kevin Knox – Kentucky
Terence Davis – Ole Miss
Deandre Burnett – Ole Miss
Quinndary Weatherspoon – Mississippi State
Tyler Davis – Texas A&M
Matthew Fisher-Davis – Vanderbilt
 

PRESEASON SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR (TIE)

Yante Maten – Georgia
Michael Porter, Jr. – Missouri
Robert Williams – Texas A&M
 

PRESEASON Media Poll

1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Missouri
6. Arkansas
7. Vanderbilt
8. Georgia
9. Auburn
10. Ole Miss
11. South Carolina
12. Mississippi State
13. Tennessee
14. LSU
 
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