UK picked to win SEC title Oscar Tshiebwe Preseason Player of the Year ; Sahvir Wheeler joins Tshiebwe on All-SEC First Team
BIRMINGHAM , Ala . – The Kentucky men ’ s basketball team , under the direction of 14th-year head coach John Calipari , was picked by the league ’ s media to win the 2023 Southeastern Conference title , the conference office announced Wednesday .
Arkansas , Tennessee , Auburn and Alabama followed the Wildcats , who are in search of their seventh regular-season title under Calipari and 50th in program history , in preseason poll voting .
In addition to the preseason poll , senior Oscar Tshiebwe was tabbed the preseason SEC Player of the Year . Tshiebwe was joined on the preseason All- SEC First Team by fellow senior Sahvir Wheeler .
It ’ s the 17th time since the 1998-99 season the Wildcats are the SEC preseason favorite . Calipari has directed his teams to regular-season SEC crowns in 2010 , 2012 , 2015 , 2016 , 2017 and 2020 . Kentucky has claimed the SEC Tournament title six times under his direction in 2010 , 2011 , 2015 , 2016 , 2017 and 2018 .
Points for the poll were compiled on a 14-13-12-11- 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis . Each member of the panel of both SEC and national media members also voted for a fiveplayer All-SEC Team . Ties were not broken .
Tshiebwe and Wheeler were joined by Arkansas ’ s Nick Smith Jr ., Florida ’ s Colin Castleton and Tennessee ’ s Santiago Vescovi on the first team . Brandon Miller and Jahvon Quinerly of Alabama , KJ Williams of LSU and Josiah-Jordan James and Zakai Zeigler of Tennessee were named to the second team .
Tshiebwe , the reigning unanimous National Player of the Year and All-America First- Team honoree , led the country in rebounding with 15.1 boards per game to go along with a team-high 17.4 points per contest a season ago . The 2022 First-Team All-SEC pick and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist set a Kentucky single-season record with 28 double-doubles while finishing the season as the only majorconference player averaging 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game .
Wheeler , who was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award for the nation ’ s best point guard a year ago , led the SEC and ranked third nationally with an average of 6.9 assists per game . Picked All-SEC Second Team by both the league ’ s coaches and media , Wheeler ’ s 207 assists were the fourthmost in a single season in UK history while the Houston native ranked second in the conference with a 2.27 assistto-turnover ratio . In 30 games played in 2021-22 , Wheeler averaged 10.1 points , 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals to go along with his 6.9 assists per contest .
After the Wildcats ’ annual Blue-White game Saturday in Pikeville , Kentucky , the Cats will play exhibition contests against Missouri Western State on Oct . 30 and Kentucky State on Nov . 3 at Rupp Arena . Kentucky ’ s home-opener against Howard is set for 6:30 p . m . on Nov . 7 .
For the latest on the Kentucky men ’ s basketball team , follow @ KentuckyMBB on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and TikTok , and on the web at UKathletics . com .
Oscar Tshiebwe
Sahvir Wheeler
6- 2022-2023 College Basketball Season Preview