University of Tennessee Athletics
Chris Lofton Named Freshman All-SEC by League Coaches
March 09, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men's basketball postseason awards Wednesday to cap off another exciting season in league history.
Tennessee guard Chris Lofton was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team as picked by the league coaches. The first-year player set a league record for a freshman with 89 3-pointers while averaging 13.5 points per games.
Conference champion Kentucky earned two 2005 SEC coaches' postseason awards as Tubby Smith was unanimously chosen SEC Coach of the Year by his peers and senior forward Chuck Hayes was selected SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches. Western Division Co-Champion LSU garnered three major awards. Brandon Bass earned both the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards and teammate Glen Davis made it back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Year honors for the Fighting Tigers (Bass won the award in 2004). Ole Miss' Todd Abernethy won the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year award.
Smith led the Wildcats to their 43rd SEC Championship and second in the last three years. He also won the award in 2003. He guided his squad to a league-best 23-4 record (14-2 in SEC play) and what will be their 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. In eight seasons in Lexington, he has compiled a 214-56 (.793) record.
Brandon Bass garnered SEC Player of the Year honors in leading LSU to a share of the Western Division title for the first time since 2000. Bass and LSU's Seimone Augustus, the SEC Women's Player of the Year, are the first duo from the same school to be voted by the league coaches as SEC Player of the Year. The SEC Coaches award began in 1987 for both men and women's basketball. Bass also becomes the first LSU player to win the honor since Shaquille O'Neal won back-to-back honors in 1991 and 1992. Bass was also a unanimous All-SEC First Team selection.
Bass also earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sporting a 3.45 grade-point average as a sophomore. He is 2004-05 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team selection and Academic All-America nominee.
LSU's Glen Davis was awarded the SEC Freshman of the Year award. Davis leads all SEC freshmen and is fourth in the league with 8.7 rebounds per game. He also ranks third among freshmen in scoring at 13.1 points per contest. Davis was one of five unanimous picks for the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Kentucky's Chuck Hayes earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award. Hayes leads the Kentucky defense that currently leads the SEC in scoring defense (61.0), steals (9.22) and turnover margin (+5.37).
Ole Miss' Todd Abernethy won the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year award. Abernethy leads the Rebels in minutes played (26.8 mpg) despite starting only eight games this season (two in SEC play) and is their third leading scorer (8.4 ppg).
A complete list of the 2005 SEC Men's Basketball postseason awards follows.
| Name, School | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown |
| FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC | |||||
| Earnest Shelton, Alabama | G | 6-3 | 200 | Sr. | Memphis, Tenn. |
| Kennedy Winston, Alabama# | F | 6-6 | 205 | Jr. | Prichard, Ala. |
| Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas | G | 6-7 | 200 | So. | Fayetteville, Ark. |
| David Lee, Florida | F | 6-9 | 249 | Sr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| Anthony Roberson, Florida# | G | 6-1 | 180 | Jr. | Saginaw, Mich. |
| Chuck Hayes, Kentucky | F | 6-6 | 247 | Sr. | Modesto, Calif. |
| Brandon Bass, LSU# | F | 6-8 | 252 | So. | Baton Rouge, La. |
| Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State | F | 6-9 | 240 | Sr. | Houston, Texas |
| SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC | |||||
| Chuck Davis, Alabama | F | 6-7 | 230 | Jr. | Selma, Ala. |
| Matt Walsh, Florida | F | 6-6 | 205 | Jr. | Holland, Pa. |
| Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky | G | 6-5 | 208 | Jr. | Tulsa, Okla. |
| Patrick Sparks, Kentucky | G | 6-1 | 180 | Jr. | Central City, Ky. |
| Glen Davis, LSU | F | 6-9 | 310 | Fr. | Baton Rouge, La. |
| Shane Power, Mississippi State | G/F | 6-5 | 210 | Sr. | Crown Point, Ind. |
| Carlos Powell, South Carolina | F | 6-7 | 220 | Sr. | Florence, S.C. |
| Corey Smith, Vanderbilt | G/F | 6-6 | 242 | Sr. | Houston, Texas |
| SEC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM | |||||
| Ronald Steele, Alabama# | G | 6-2 | 185 | Birmingham, Ala. | |
| Darian Townes, Arkansas# | C | 6-10 | 235 | Alexandria, Va. | |
| Toney Douglas, Auburn# | G | 6-1 | 190 | Jonesboro, Ga. | |
| Corey Brewer, Florida | G/F | 6-8 | 183 | Portland, Tenn. | |
| Rajon Rondo, Kentucky# | G | 6-1 | 155 | Louisville, Ky. | |
| Glen Davis, LSU# | F | 6-9 | 310 | Baton Rouge, La. | |
| Chris Lofton, Tennessee | G | 6-2 | 190 | Maysville, Ky. | |
| Shan Foster, Vanderbilt | G/F | 6-6 | 198 | Kenner, La. | |
| SEC COACH OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Tubby Smith, Kentucky# | |||||
| SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Brandon Bass, LSU | |||||
| SEC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Brandon Bass, LSU | |||||
| SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Glen Davis, LSU | |||||
| SEC SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Todd Abernethy, Ole Miss | |||||
| SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR | |||||
| Chuck Hayes, Kentucky | |||||
#-Unanimous Selection; Ties are not broken
