Retin Obasohan Named First Team All-SEC, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and All-Defensive Team

Senior guard Retin Obasohan was named the 2016 Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year and First Team All-SEC, the league office announced on Tuesday morning. In addition, the Antwerp, Belgium, native earned a spot on the league’s all-defensive team, giving him a trio of all-conference awards to cap what has been an outstanding senior year.

“I’m so proud of Retin,” Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. “I got word yesterday and was just really excited for him. I couldn’t wait to tell him (Tuesday). I wanted to be the first one to tell him. Obviously, he couldn’t get all-defensive [Team] and been on the First Team without his teammates. His teammates do a lot to help him on the floor, but it’s well deserved. [It’s] well earned. Scholar Athlete of the Year, that’s back-to-back [Levi Randolph won the award in 2015]. It’s pretty amazing stuff. I’m just honored to be his coach and work with him, just like the rest of our guys, day-in and day-out. He’s definitely had a tremendous leap this year. He’s not finished.”

Obasohan is the third player in program history, and the second in as many years, to claim the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, joining former standouts Levi Randolph (2015) and Justin Knox (2009) as past recipients. Furthermore, Obasohan is the second player in program history to be named to both the league’s first team and all-defensive team in the same season. Trevor Releford accomplished that feat back in 2013.

“It’s far beyond anything I could possibly imagine,” Obasohan said. “It blows my mind still. It’s so surreal. It kind of seemed like a dream. I’m just grateful for the guys I have in that locker room, the coaching staff that I have and the God that I serve. It’s pretty unreal and I’m excited to even add some more great stuff to this season.”

Obasohan, the Tide’s senior captain, ranked third in the SEC with an average of 20.6 points per game in league contests on his way to becoming the first player in 30 years to average more than 20 points per game in league play. The last player to accomplish the feat was Buck Johnson, who averaged 20.4 ppg in SEC play during the 1985-86 season. Obasohan finished the conference season ranked third in scoring average, fifth in field goal percentage (.496) and eighth in steals per game (1.4).

Obasohan enters the SEC Tournament leading the Tide and ranking fifth in the SEC with 17.7 points per game. He has collected 14 games of 20 or more points – 11 of which came during SEC play – and 24 double-digit scoring games.

Obasohan was twice named the SEC Player of the Week for the weeks of Feb. 8 and Dec. 14. In doing so, Obasohan became the first Alabama men’s basketball player to earn the recognition twice in the same season since Kennedy Winston did so during the 2004-05 campaign.

Texas A&M’s Billy Kennedy earned SEC Coach of the Year honors while Kentucky sophomore Tyler Ulis was selected the SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Ulis was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. LSU’s Ben Simmons was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Year and South Carolina’s Duane Notice was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, All-Defensive team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman, Defensive, Sixth-Man and Scholar-Athlete of the Year were chosen by the league’s 14 coaches. Ties were not broken.

A complete list of the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows:

First Team All-SEC

Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium

Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario

Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.

Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia

Stefan Moody, Ole Miss – G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.

Michael Carrera, South Carolina – F, 6-5, 214, Sr., Anzoátegui, Venezuela

Jalen Jones, Texas A&M – G/F, 6-7, 220, Sr., Dallas, Texas

Damian Jones, Vanderbilt – C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.

Second Team All-SEC

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria

Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida – F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.

J.J. Frazier, Georgia – 5-10, 155, G, Jr., Glennville, Ga.

Yante Maten, Georgia – 6-8, 240, F, So., Pontiac, Mich.

Kevin Punter Jr., Tennessee – G, 6-2, 190, Sr., Bronx, N.Y.

Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

Danuel House, Texas A&M – G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas

Wade Baldwin IV, Vanderbilt – G, 6-3, 194, So., Belle Mead, N.J.

SEC All-Freshman Team

KeVaughn Allen, Florida – G, 6-2, 183, Fr., Little Rock, Ark.

Jamal Murray, Kentucky – G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario

Antonio Blakeney, LSU – G, 6-4, 190, Fr., Sarasota, Fla.

Ben Simmons, LSU – F, 6-10, 240, Fr., Melbourne, Australia

Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State – G, 6-4, 202, Fr., Canton, Miss.

Kevin Puryear, Missouri – F, 6-7, 236, Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.

Tyler Davis, Texas A&M – C, 6-10, 265, Fr., Plano, Texas

DJ Hogg, Texas A&M – F, 6-8, 216, Fr., Plano, Texas

SEC All-Defensive Team

Retin Obasohan, Alabama – G, 6-2, 210, Sr., Antwerp, Belgium

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas – F, 6-10, 230, Jr., Abuja, Nigeria

Tyler Ulis, Kentucky – G, 5-9, 160, So., Chicago, Ill.

Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina – G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Lancaster, S.C.

Alex Caruso, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt – F, 7-1, 240, Jr., Lantana, Texas

SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M

SEC Player of the Year:  Tyler Ulis, Kentucky

SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Retin Obasohan, Alabama

SEC Freshman of the Year:  Ben Simmons, LSU

SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Duane Notice, South Carolina

SEC Defensive Player of the Year:  Tyler Ulis, Kentucky