Wednesday, December 29, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
OXFORD, Miss. — Few would argue the circumstances are better than this time a year ago. Few would argue, also, that's subject to change.
And already has.
As it stands, as of Wednesday afternoon, the Southeastern Conference basketball season will open play Wednesday night at a handful of venues. The Pavilion at Ole Miss will be one of them. Not after the date between the Florida Gators (9-3) and Mississippi Rebels was postponed Tuesday due to health and safety protocols in the UF program. The games elsewhere, as of this posting, will go on as scheduled, so a brushstroke of the league heading into 2022 remains applicable.
The SEC, which has sent at least six teams to the last four NCAA Tournaments, looks to be stacked once again, with five teams currently residing in the Top 25 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the formula that eventually will seed the tournament in March. The Gators sit at No. 52, having played one of their lightest non-league schedules in years, so they have some work to do on the metrics front. Winning games in one of the nation's toughest leagues — the fastest and most athletic, to be sure — is the best way to pad that NET number.
UF forward Colin Castleton leads the Gators in points, rebounds and blocked shots.
LSU stands as one of only five unbeaten Division I teams, along with defending national champion Baylor, Southern California, Colorado State and Iowa State. The Tigers figure to contend for the conference title, but reigning champ Alabama, as well as Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee, certainly will have a say in matters between here and the SEC Tournament, set for March 9-13 in Tampa.
So, apparently, will the Omicron variant, but that's a different (and ongoing) story.
For now, here's a snapshot of the SEC '22 (with, for now, four conference games on the docket Wednesday night), starting with the standings and some goings-on around the league to date.
Team
Record
NET Ranking
Home
Away
Neutral
Streak
SEC opener
LSU
12-0
3rd
8-0
1-0
3-0
W-12
@Auburn, Wednesday
Auburn
11-1
10th
6-0
2-0
3-1
W-8
LSU, Wednesday
Arkansas
10-2
90th
8-0
0-0
2-2
W-1
@Mississippi State, Wednesday
Kentucky
9-2
23
9-0
0-1
1-1
W-2
Missouri, Wednesday
Tennessee
9-2
8th
7-0
1-0
1-2
W-3
@Alabama, Wednesday
Texas A&M
9-2
66th
6-0
1-0
2-2
W-2
@Texas A&M, Jan. 4
Alabama
9-3
24th
6-0
0-1
3-2
L-1
Tennessee, Wednesday
Florida
9-3
52nd
6-1
0-1
3-1
W-2
Alabama, Jan. 5
Mississippi State
9-3
41st
7-1
0-0
2-2
W-3
Arkansas, Wednesday
South Carolina
9-3
104th
7-0
0-2
2-1
W-1
Auburn, Jan. 4
Ole Miss
8-4
133rd
7-1
0-0
1-3
L-1
@Tennessee, Jan. 5
Vanderbilt
8-4
84th
5-3
2-1
1-0
W-3
@Arkansas, Jan. 4
Missouri
6-6
235th
5-2
0-2
1-2
L-1
@Kentucky, Wednesday
Georgia
5-7
208th
5-4
0-1
0-2
L-1
Texas A&M, Jan. 4
To review:
* For the second consecutive year, the SEC went through an offseason without any coaching changes. Last year, when all 14 coaches stuck around following the pandemic-shuttered '20-21 season, marked the first time since 2000-01 that no new coaches entered the league. The last time it happened two straight years was the 1999-2000 and '00-01 seasons, so apparently, when it happens, it comes in pairs.
* KenPom.com metrics rank the SEC as the third-best league in the country, behind the Big 12 and Big Ten.
* Alabama has played the toughest schedule to date, with four so-called "Quadrant-1" games and seven currently classified as Q-1 or Q-2s. The Crimson Tide have faced just one opponent with a sub-.500 record (Jacksonville State at 5-6), but has beaten Gonzaga ('21 NCAA runner-up) on a neutral floor and Houston ('21 Final Four participant) at home. Their losses are to Iona (at Orlando), Memphis at home and Davidson on a neutral floor. The 'Bama and Tennessee opener Wednesday night could have serious title ramifications down the line.
* Another year of dark NCAA investigation clouds hovering above Baton Rouge, but Coach Will Wade and LSU are still having a grand ol' time on the court and on the recruiting trail and looking like another serious player in the league hunt. The Tigers' schedule has not been particularly challenging, with Belmont (No. 19) the lone opponent ranked in the NET Top 50, but that'll change Wednesday night at Auburn.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (2) traded in his Georgia jersey for the Big Blue of Kentucky.
* Heading into the season, more than 80 transfers had joined the league, including a handful that remained in the SEC family: point guard Sahvir Wheeler from Georgia to Kentucky; shooting guard Xavier Pinson from Missouri to LSU; sharp-shooting guard Justin Powell from Auburn to Tennessee; guard Ethan Henderson from Arkansas to Texas A&M; guard K.D. Johnson from Georgia to Auburn; guard Tye Fagan from Georgia to Ole Miss, to name a few.
* Florida's loss to Texas Southern was arguably the program's worst defeat in the last 10 years, but the Gators aren't the only SEC team with an ugly setback to a mid- or low-major program that'll need some cover on the resume. Missouri lost to Missouri-Kansas City and Liberty. Arkansas lost to Hofstra. South Carolina lost to Princeton and Coastal Carolina. Ole Miss lost to Samford. Georgia lost to Wofford, George Mason and East Tennessee State. And don't forget that Alabama-Iona game.
As for the best players in the SEC, here's 10 (in alphabetical order). Worth noting: UF's Colin Castletoncould warrant mention here, but this is an info primer from around the league.
* Kennedy Chandler (6-1, 170, freshman point guard, Tennessee): A McDonald's All American out of Memphis (the latest in a long line), Chandler already dots all NBA first-round mock boards. Though undersized, he's drawn raves for his on-ball defense, so start there. On the other end of the floor, Chandler's shooting numbers are solid for a rookie (44.4 percent overall, 37.2 from the arc, and already with a 27-point outing against Colorado and 4-for-4 showing from deep against Tennessee-Martin). He ranks third in the league at 5.0 assists per game with a better than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
* Tari Eason (6-8, 216, sophomore forward, LSU): Los Angeles product and transfer from Cincinnati, Eason has taken over where the exit of all-purpose low-poster Trendon Watford left a void. He's averaging 16.3 points and 54.5-percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds.
LSU forward Tari Easton (13) was named to the Freshman All-American Athletic Confrence Team last season after averaging 7.3 points and 5.9 rebounds at Cincinnati.
* John Fulkerson (6-9, 219, sixth-year forward, Tennessee): He's not a big-time NBA prospect. Far from it actually. But "Fulkie," with his work ethic and high-efficiency play on both ends, has been the heart of the Volunteers' ascension under Coach Rick Barnes. For a reminder, check out how UT fared after losing Fulkerson to a concussion in the SEC Tournament last season. The Vols were eliminated the next day in a close semifinal loss to Alabama, then as a No. 5-seed got spanked in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by 12th-seeded Oregon State.
* Iverson Molinar (6-3, 190, junior guard Mississippi State): He went from just under six points per game as a freshman to 16.7 last season, and is hovering just shy of 17 heading into league play as the SEC's No. 3 scorer (16.9 ppg). His shooting percentages are down a smige, but Molinar's assists are up and he's getting to the line more — and shooting nearly 91 percent there.
* JD Notae (6-2, 190, senior guard, Arkansas): He's 45 points shy of hitting 1,600 for his career, with 929 of them coming during his two seasons at Jacksonville. Notae is at 18.0 points per game, good for second in the league. He's 42.1 percent overall and a career-low 29.3 from distance, but chips in 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Vandy's Scottie Pippin Jr. (2) scored 32 points, went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and dished six assists in a loss at Florida last season
* Scottie Pippin Jr. (6-3, 185, junior point guard, Vanderbilt): If he was playing anywhere else, the son of the Hall-of-Famer would likely be in All-America conversations down the line. Pippin was first-team All-SEC last season at 20.8 points per game (second in the league) on a Commodores team that went 9-16. He also had the ball in his hands 35.2 percent of Vandy possessions, which ranked third in the country, and took 32.1 percent of the team's shots (27th nationally). He's a great player — No. 1 in the conference in scoring at 18.1 per game — with very little around him and still managing to shoot nearly 43 percent, 31 from 3 and by season's end will be among the league leaders in free-throw attempts.
* Jahvon Quinerly (6-1, 175, junior guard, Alabama): The 2021 SEC Tournament MVP opened the season with a run of inconsistency, but has settled in to hit double figures in each of the last five games, with outings of eight and six assists along the way. Quinerly runs the Alabama offense. He's a streaky 3-point shooter (.284), but can go get his shot and finishes drives, hitting 53.5 percent of his 2s.
* Jaden Shackelford (6-3, 200, junior guard, Alabama): He entered the transfer portal last spring, but opted to return to Tuscaloosa and now he's the best player on what could be the SEC's best team. Not only is into the 40s from inside and outside the arc, but Shackelford (16.8 ppg) rebounds as well as any guard in the league at 6.6 per game.
Auburn's Jabari Smith (10) could be the latest No. 1 overall NBA pick out of the SEC, joining Kentucky's Karl Anthony-Towns (2015), LSU's Ben Simmons (2016) and Georgia's Anthony Edwards (2020) in the last seven years alone.
* Jabari Smith (6-10, 220, freshman forward, Auburn): Smith, out of Fayetteville, Ga., was a consensus No. 5 overall prospect and became the highest-rated signee in Tigers history. Check the most recent mock drafts and Smith is slotted as the No. 1 overall pick. Yes, No. 1. And, yes, ahead of Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren and Duke's Paulo Banchero. For now, he's at 16.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, and is actually shooting better from distance (.452) than inside the arc (.448). He's also a big who makes his free throws (.837).
* Oscar Tshiebwe (6-9, 255, junior forward, Kentucky): The West Virginia transfer is the early leader for 2022 SEC Player of the Year. His 16.7 points (on nearly 65-percent shooting) ranks a mere seventh in the SEC, but his — get this — 15.5 rebounds per game, twice what he averaged as a Mountaineer, ranks first in the country. Looks like the Wildcats not only have their best big man since '16-17 one-and-done freshman Bam Adebayo, but a savvy, veteran one, as well.
And how 'bout five more lesser-knowns who NBA scouts are watching closely? Worth noting: A scan of some mock draft boards shows UF forward Anthony Duruji showing up, with scouts taking note of his athleticism and motor.
* JD Davison (6-3, 195, freshman guard, Alabama): Anyone watch the Tide tear up Gonzaga in Seattle earlier this month? Davison was special that night: 20 points, four 3s, five rebounds, three assists He doesn't start because 'Bama is so loaded on the perimeter, but the former two-time Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year and McDonald's All American will be heard from. Likely not a one-and-done, but a '23 lottery pick.
Remember the name JD Davison. You forget the hair.
* Keon Ellis (6-6, 175, senior guard, Alabama): He easily could have been in the first list of 10, but that's just the way the 'Bama ball bounces this year. A product of Eustis, Fla., he led Leesburg High to back-to-back Class 6A titles, but went virtually unrecruited and ended up at Florida Southwestern State College, where he became a two-time JuCo All-American. Now he's scoring 12.4 per game and grabbing 6.5 rebounds for the Tide, who come to Gainesville next week for the Gators' home SEC opener. He'll have plenty of fans there.
* Walker Kessler (7-1, 245, sophomore center, Auburn): The pros have been watching Kessler a while and waiting. As the nephew of the late Alex Kessler, the 1990 SEC Player of the Year and first-team All American at Georgia, his blood lines are proven. So is his length. Kessler, out of Newman, Ga., signed with North Carolina, but had a pedestrian freshman season (8.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) with the Tar Heels and bolted after Roy Williams retired last spring. Now he's at Auburn and scoring 9.5 points and having doubled his rebounds to 7.3, along with a menacing 3.4 blocks per.
* TyTy Washington (6-3, 197, freshman guard, Kentucky): He's in the 2022 NBA lottery conversation already. The Phoenix product is at nearly 14 points and shooting better than 49 percent (41.2 from 3), 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists In UK's two losses this season, Washington has played his poorest, with those games representing two of the three he failed to score in double figures.
* Marcus Williams (6-2, 197, sophomore guard, Texas A&M): His numbers aren't going to wow many; not at 9.5 points, 3.2 assists and 2.4 rebounds per. Give him time. Williams transferred from Wyoming after he was 2021 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award given annually to the nation's top freshman. He scored 14.8 points and dished four assists there, but also was a defensive menace the likes of which Coach Buzz Williams can lean on as he continues to build the Aggies to his model.
