SEC Basketball: Best Players from each team of the 21st Century (2000-2018)
By Logan Butts
In part six of our Best of the Century series, it’s time to take a look at SEC Basketball. Who were the best players of the era from each team?
When it comes to SEC basketball during most of the 20th century, a few things come to mind: Kentucky as both a fallen powerhouse and a looming giant, Florida’s legendary run with Billy Donovan, a couple of standout players and teams (Chris Lofton, the 2006 LSU Final Four squad), and not much else.
Until recently, that is. The SEC, often considered the lesser league of the Power Five conferences in basketball (a designation that was sometimes exaggerated due to the SEC’s football dominance of the same time period), has had a resurgence in the last few seasons.
They even landed a record-breaking eight teams in the NCAA Tournament. Was it an outlier or a sign of things to come? It’s certainly looking like when this series is done again in10 years that the SEC may have a stronger group of players from top to bottom.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Starting Five: Erwin Dudley, Kennedy Winston, Richard Hendrix, JaMychal Green, Collin Sexton
Bench: Ronald Steele, Mo Williams, Jermareo Davidson, Alonzo Gee, Rod Grizzard, Gerald Wallace, Chuck Davis, Earnest Shelton, Mikhail Torrance, Trevor Releford, Retin Obasohan
MVP: Dudley is an underrated star from this era of college basketball, and he was the Crimson Tide’s only SEC Player of the Year in this span.
Sexton on the first team might be a bit blasphemous, but he brought some excitement to the table that was sorely lacking. The starting five is actually really balanced.