LSU picked third in SEC, Watford, Smart All-SEC
BATON ROUGE – LSU sophomore forward Trendon Watford and junior guard Javonte Smart were selected on the media preseason All-SEC team announced by the league office on Thursday.
LSU as a team was picked third in the overall league selections by a panel of both SEC and national media members.
Watford is among the first-team selections that included Florida junior forward Keyontae Johnson, Alabama’s John Petty Jr., Kentucky’s Brandon Boston Jr and Tennessee’s John Fulkerson. Johnson was selected as the preseason league POY selection with Watford among the players receiving media votes for that honor.
Smart was one of the six selections for the second team preseason All-SEC.
Watford as a freshman started 30-of-31 games last season, averaging 31.5 minutes per game. He is the Tigers’ best returning scorer at 13.6 points per game and the team’s leading rebounder a year ago at 7.2 boards a game. Watford shot 48.9 percent from the floor overall with 18 three-point field goals.
Smart also started 30-of-31 games a year ago, averaging 34.2 minutes a game with a 12.5 points per game averaged. The Baton Rouge native posted a 3.5 rebounds per game mark and has 129 assists in the course of the season.
Points for the team ranking was compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Tennessee was selected first with Kentucky in second ahead of LSU.
The 2020-21 campaign is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Nov. 25, when LSU takes part in the Golden Window Classic at Lincoln, Nebraska/ LSU will play games there on Nov. 25, 26 and 28 with LSU’s first home game in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center set for Dec. 6 against Louisiana Tech. Game times and attendance setup for those games will be announced in the days ahead.
SEC MEDIA PANEL SELECTIONS
First Team All-SEC
John Petty Jr. – Alabama
Keyontae Johnson – Florida
Brandon Boston Jr. – Kentucky
Trendon Watford – LSU
John Fulkerson – Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
Olivier Sarr – Kentucky
Javonte Smart – LSU
Dru Smith – Missouri
AJ Lawson – South Carolina
Yves Pons – Tennessee
Savion Flagg – Texas A&M
SEC Player of the Year
Keyontae Johnson – Florida
Preseason Media Poll
1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. LSU
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. Arkansas
7. Auburn
8. South Carolina
9. Ole Miss
10. Missouri
11. Texas A&M
12. Mississippi State
13. Georgia
14. Vanderbilt
