Tennessee basketball: Fulkerson, Pons make First Team All-SEC

Yves Pons and John Fulkerson were the Tennessee basketball Volunteers on this preseason list.

Last week, Tennessee basketball was tabbed as the favorite to win the SEC in a vote by media members covering the league. John Fulkerson earned First Team All-SEC, and Yves Pons earned Second Team All-SEC.

Well, the senior forwards are getting a little more love from the coaches as a duo. The league’s preseason Coaches’ All-SEC had both Pons and Fulkerson as First Team players. To be fair, though, the media selection only included five players, the the coaches included eight.

Joining Tennessee basketball as the only other school with two First Team All-SEC players were the LSU Tigers. Both Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford made the list. Other First Teamers were John Petty Jr. of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Keyontae Johnson of the Florida Gators, Brandon Boston Jr. of the Kentucky Wildcats and A.J. Lawson of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

All six of those teams had two players make one of the two All-SEC squads, as Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky and Florida all had one Second Team All-SEC player. Nobody had three players make it, however.

Last year’s SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Pons had a breakout season at 6’6″ 215 pounds, averaging just under 11 points, five and a half rebounds and two and a half blocked shots a game while shooting 34.9 percent from three. An athlete who could play the three or the four, he tested the NBA waters in the offseason before deciding in August to return for his senior season.

Fulkerson, meanwhile, was a breakout star. After three years backing up Kyle Alexander at center, one of which he took a redshirt due to a season-ending injury, the 6’9″ 215-pound forward emerged as UT’s leading scorer, averaging just under 14 points and six rebounds a game. He crossed the 20-point threshold in four of the Vols’ final 10 games last year.

When you combine two First Team All-SEC players with a top five recruiting class, you can see why there’s so much hype behind Tennessee basketball this year. The coaches clearly believe in Rick Barnes’ program as much as the media at this point.