BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams was named Coach of the Year and standout guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford received all-league honors in the SEC Men's Basketball Awards, the Southeastern Conference announced on Monday.
Williams, who shared the Coach of the Year award with Vanderbilt's Jerry Stackhouse, orchestrated a historic regular season for the Aggies, who won 15 conference games for the first time in 100 years and tallied their first undefeated conference home state in more than 40 years.
The Aggies head into this week's SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, as the No. 2 seed with a 23-8 overall record and a 15-3 worksheet in league play. The Aggies earned a "double-bye" and play either No. 7 seed Auburn or No. 10 Arkansas at 6 p.m. on Friday at Bridgestone Arena.
Taylor IV, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, earned first-team All-SEC honors, while Radford, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was named to the All-SEC Second Team.
Taylor IV averaged 16.3 points, which ranked No. 5 in the SEC for the full season, while leading the league in free throws made with 152 and FT percentage with an 86.9 success rate at the line. Taylor ranked fourth in assists (126) and fifth in steals (56). Taylor IV was the fifth Aggie to earn first-team All-SEC honors, joining Elston Turner (2013), Danuel House (2015), Jalen Jones (2016) and Tyler Davis (2018), and he was the first Texas A&M sophomore to be named to the elite team.
With Taylor IV, Radford was the other half of the SEC's top scoring guard tandem that averaged 29.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. "Boots" averaged 13.3 points per game for the regular season and was the SEC's No. 4 rebounder at 5.5 among guards. Radford was at his best in the big games, averaging 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in matchups against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
It was Williams' second SEC Coach of the Year honor in four seasons at Texas A&M. He also received the plaudit in his first season in Aggieland in 2019-20 from the Associated Press. Williams has now overseen the program's top two highest AP Top 25 victories with last Saturday's win over No. 2 Alabama and last year's win over No. 4 Auburn at the SEC Tournament. The win over Alabama marked Texas A&M's first-ever top-five win on its home court and the fourth-ever over a top 10-ranked opponent on its home floor.
Williams, who shared the Coach of the Year award with Vanderbilt's Jerry Stackhouse, orchestrated a historic regular season for the Aggies, who won 15 conference games for the first time in 100 years and tallied their first undefeated conference home state in more than 40 years.
The Aggies head into this week's SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, as the No. 2 seed with a 23-8 overall record and a 15-3 worksheet in league play. The Aggies earned a "double-bye" and play either No. 7 seed Auburn or No. 10 Arkansas at 6 p.m. on Friday at Bridgestone Arena.
Taylor IV, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, earned first-team All-SEC honors, while Radford, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was named to the All-SEC Second Team.
Taylor IV averaged 16.3 points, which ranked No. 5 in the SEC for the full season, while leading the league in free throws made with 152 and FT percentage with an 86.9 success rate at the line. Taylor ranked fourth in assists (126) and fifth in steals (56). Taylor IV was the fifth Aggie to earn first-team All-SEC honors, joining Elston Turner (2013), Danuel House (2015), Jalen Jones (2016) and Tyler Davis (2018), and he was the first Texas A&M sophomore to be named to the elite team.
With Taylor IV, Radford was the other half of the SEC's top scoring guard tandem that averaged 29.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. "Boots" averaged 13.3 points per game for the regular season and was the SEC's No. 4 rebounder at 5.5 among guards. Radford was at his best in the big games, averaging 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in matchups against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
It was Williams' second SEC Coach of the Year honor in four seasons at Texas A&M. He also received the plaudit in his first season in Aggieland in 2019-20 from the Associated Press. Williams has now overseen the program's top two highest AP Top 25 victories with last Saturday's win over No. 2 Alabama and last year's win over No. 4 Auburn at the SEC Tournament. The win over Alabama marked Texas A&M's first-ever top-five win on its home court and the fourth-ever over a top 10-ranked opponent on its home floor.
The All-@SEC Aggies ??
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) March 6, 2023
4?? • 1st Team
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Coach Buzz • COTY#GigEm pic.twitter.com/x1REIt5qRz