Duane Notice named SEC Sixth Man of the Year
One of the best seasons in program history didn’t go un-noticed by the league’s coaches.
South Carolina’s Duane Notice was named SEC Sixth Man of the Year on Tuesday while Michael Carrera was first-team All-SEC in the coaches’ all-conference awards. Sindarius Thornwell was named to the All-SEC defensive team.
Frank Martin, despite taking a team picked seventh in preseason voting to a third-place finish, came in under Texas A&M’s Billy Kennedy for SEC Coach of the Year. The Aggies were picked third and finished tied for first.
Notice was USC’s first individual SEC superlative since Sam Muldrow won SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2011. He only started five games (the last five) and averaged 11.2 points per game with a career-best 10.4 points per game. Notice shot 41.2 percent from the field.
“I’m so proud of him,” Martin said. “He’s a stud. In a day and age where most folks in his age group, they’re concerned with me-me-me-me-me, he’s one of the guys who’s concerned with we-we-we-we-we.”
Carrera was USC’s first first-team All-SEC selection since Devan Downey in 2010. He led the Gamecocks with 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and averaged 16.1 points during the SEC season.
Thornwell led USC with 1.5 steals per game, the fifth-best mark in the SEC, and blocked 13 shots.
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First-team All-SEC
Michael Carrera, South Carolina
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M
Stefan Moody, Ole Miss
Jamal Murray, Kentucky
Retin Obasohan, Alabama
Ben Simmons, LSU
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
Second-team All-SEC
Wade Baldwin, Vanderbilt
Alex Caruso, Texas A&M
Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida
J.J. Frazier, Georgia
Danuel House, Texas A&M
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Yante Maten, Georgia
Kevin Punter, Tennessee
All-defensive team
Alex Caruso, Texas A&M
Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt
Retin Obasohan, Alabama
Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
All-freshman team
KeVaughn Allen, Forida
Antonio Blakeney, LSU
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M
D.J. Hogg, Texas A&M
Jamal Murray, Kentucky
Kevin Puryear, Missouri
Ben Simmons, LSU
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State
SEC Player of the Year
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
SEC Freshman of the Year
Ben Simmons, LSU
SEC Defensive Player of the Year
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
SEC 6th Man of the Year
Duane Notice, South Carolina
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Retin Obasohan, Alabama
SEC Coach of the Year
Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M
This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 12:33 PM.