Media Poll Predicts Kentucky as SEC Champs

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Kentucky was predicted to win the 2012 Southeastern Conference men's basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

Each SEC school selected media members that cover their team and additional media from across the nation were selected by the conference office to form the voting panel.

The Wildcats, who are coming off a 29-9 season that saw them advance to the NCAA Final Four, earned 18 first-place votes. Vanderbilt earned four first-place votes while Florida received one vote.

Last week Kentucky was ranked second nationally in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches hoops poll while Vanderbilt was seventh and Florida was 10. Alabama was ranked 17th and Mississippi State was among the teams receiving votes.

Kentucky sophomore Terrence Jones was the choice of the media for SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year with 12 votes. Vanderbilt junior John Jenkins finished second (nine votes) while Alabama senior JaMychal Green (one vote) and Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis (one vote) also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.
Jones, Jenkins and Green were joined on the All-SEC First Team by Mississippi State senior Dee Bost and Vanderbilt senior Jeffery Taylor.

Davis and Vanderbilt's Festus Ezeli led All-SEC Second Team honors and were joined by Florida's Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker along with Kentucky's Doron Lamb and Darius Miller.

Points were compiled on a 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team.

Preseason Media Poll
1. Kentucky (18) 282
2. Vanderbilt (4) 265
3. Florida (1) 235
4. Alabama 219
5. Mississippi State 191
6. Arkansas 154
7. Ole Miss 119
8. Georgia 108
9. LSU 91
10. Auburn 80
11. Tennessee 71
12. South Carolina 57

First Team All-SEC
• JaMychal Green, Alabama - F, 6-8, 228, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
• Terrence Jones, Kentucky - F, 6-9, 252, So., Portland, Ore.
• Dee Bost, Mississippi State - G, 6-2, 176, Sr. , Concord, N.C.
• John Jenkins, Vanderbilt - G, 6-4, 220, Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.
• Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt - G/F, 6-7, 225, Sr., Norrkoping, Sweden

Second Team All-SEC
• Anthony Davis, Kentucky - F, 6-10, 220, Fr., Chicago, Ill.
• Doron Lamb, Kentucky - G, 6-4, 210, So., Queens, N.Y.
• Darius Miller, Kentucky - G, 6-8, 235, Sr., Maysville, Ky.
• Kenny Boynton, Florida - G, 6-2, 189, Jr., Pompano Beach, Fla.
• Erving Walker, Florida - G, 5-8, 177, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt - C, 6-11, 255, Sr., Benin City, Nigeria

SEC Player of the Year: Terrence Jones, Kentucky