The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Controversial Tide freshman honored as SEC player of year
Alabama freshman Brandon Miller, whose tremendous season on the court has been clouded by controversy off it, is The Associated Press player of the year and newcomer of the year in the Southeastern Conference.
Texas A&M’S Buzz Williams was named coach of the year on Tuesday in voting by 14 reporters who cover the SEC.
Miller was a first-team pick on all but one ballot. He received 12 player of the year votes and 11 as top newcomer for the regular-season SEC champions. The 6-foot-9 forward is only the fourth freshman in the last 50 years to lead the SEC in scoring, averaging 19.6 points along with 8.0 rebounds. He is also tops in 3-pointers made, making 92 and hitting at a 40.4% rate.
Miller’s name surfaced in court testimony in the capital murder case of now-former teammate Darius Miles and another man in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris near campus.
The university has described Miller as a cooperating witness.
ACC: Wake Forest guard Tyree Appleby is the AP’S player of the year in the ACC, the second straight season a Demon Deacons player took the honor after Alondes Williams in 2022.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel was named coach of the year and Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski was named newcomer of the year in voting released Tuesday.
Appleby, a 6-foot grad transfer guard from Florida, led the ACC with in scoring at 18.8 points a game and assists at 6.2 per contest. He was second in ACC steals.
BIG TEN: Purdue’s Zach Edey is the AP player of the year in the Big Ten Conference and the Boilermakers’ Matt Painter and Northwestern’s Chris Collins split coach of the year honors.
The 7-foot-4, 305-pound Edey led the Boilermakers to their first outright Big Ten regular-season championship since 2017. He goes into the conference tournament averaging 21.9 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
PAC-12: Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s decision to return for his senior season worked out quite well for UCLA.
Jaquez was named the AP player of the year in the Pac-12 on Tuesday and Bruins coach Mick Cronin is the conference coach of the year.
Jaquez considered leaving Westwood for the NBA after three productive seasons that included a trip the Final Four and the Sweet 16 in consecutive years. The crafty 6-foot-7 swing man averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while helping lead the Bruins to their first Pac-12 regular-season title in a decade.
Cronin has returned UCLA to prominence in four seasons since leaving Cincinnati.
BIG 12: Conference scoring and rebounding leader Jalen Wilson of Kansas is the unanimous pick as the AP Big 12 player of the year. First-year Kansas State coach Jerome Tang is coach of the year.
Wilson, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, goes into this week’s Big 12 tournament leading the league with 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The 6-6 Johnson averages 17.8 points and 7.0 rebounds.