All SEC Preseason Basketball Teams Announced
UF MBK: Castleton Named Preseason First-Team All-SEC
Gators selected in top half of SEC in preseason media poll
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Colin Castleton has been named preseason first-team All-Southeastern Conference in a media vote, the league announced on Wednesday. The fifth-year forward opted to use his extra year of eligibility to return to Florida and build off his two previous All-SEC campaigns for Todd Golden's inaugural season at the helm.
The media poll also placed the Gators in the upper half of a league projected to be among the nation's toughest, placing UF at seventh in the vote.
Castleton averaged 17.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in SEC play last season (16.2 and 9.0 overall) on the way to earning coaches second-team All-SEC honors. He had 10 double-doubles last season, the most by a Gator since Marreese Speights had 10 in 2007-08.
The native Floridian has the opportunity to climb UF's all-time blocked shots list, entering the year 10th with 116. He also sits 250 points away from 1,000 points as a Gator, a milestone only Dorian Finney-Smith has reached as an incoming transfer to Florida. Castleton has an opportunity to earn All-SEC honors in three straight seasons, which would mark the first Gator to accomplish the feat since Kenny Boynton did so in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
First Team All-SEC
Nick Smith Jr. Arkansas G Fr. 6-5 185 Jacksonville, Ark.
Colin Castleton Florida F 5th 6-11 250 Deland, Fla.
Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky F Sr. 6-9 260 Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Sahvir Wheeler Kentucky G Sr. 5-9 180 Houston, Texas
Santiago Vescovi Tennessee G Sr. 6-3 192 Montevideo, Uruguay
Second Team All-SEC
Brandon Miller Alabama F Fr. 6-9 200 Antioch, Tenn.
Jahvon Quinerly Alabama G Sr. 6-1 175 Hackensack, N.J.
KJ Williams LSU F 5th 6-10 250 Cleveland, Miss.
Josiah-Jordan James Tennessee G Sr. 6-6 224
Charleston, S.C. Zakai Zeigler Tennessee G So. 5-9 171 Long Island, N.Y.
SEC Player of the Year
Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky F Sr. 6-9 260
Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Kentucky
2. Arkansas
3. Tennessee
4. Auburn
5. Alabama
6. Texas A&M
7. Florida
8. LSU
9. Ole Miss
10. Mississippi State
11. Missouri
12. Vanderbilt
13. Georgia
14. South Carolina