Why the SEC is buzzing about basketball – in October
Kevin Puryear has played in 63 college basketball games. In 2016, he was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team. A year later, he capped a 30-point performance at the SEC tournament with a buzzer-beating 3 to beat Auburn.
But on Wednesday at SEC media day in Nashville, Puryear was, by far, the less popular Missouri Tiger.
His assigned high-top table drew just a handful of reporters while Michael Porter Jr., a 19-year-old who’s spent four months on Mizzou’s campus, was crowded by nearly every recorder and camera in the room.
In the middle of football season, SEC basketball generated some buzz this week. Its goal is to keep the conversation going through the end of March.
The league has the pieces in place to make it happen. There’s Porter Jr., perhaps the nation’s most talented freshman. There’s South Carolina coming off a Final Four run. And, of course, there’s Kentucky.
Andy Kennedy, entering his 12th season at Mississippi, is the dean of SEC coaches. He’s seen the league struggle just to get three teams to the NCAA tournament three times in the past five years. But last year, he saw when USC, Florida and Kentucky were left standing in the Elite Eight. He also spotted this past offseason where a nation’s best 26 of ESPN’s top 100 recruits signed to SEC programs.
“I think top to bottom, the league may be as good as it’s been in my 12 years,” Kennedy said. “And that’s not just coach-speak. The reason being … the top has always been good, we’ve had national champions come out of this league for a long time. The middle of the league has always been strong because we’ve been on both sides, where a bad weekend can take you from third to seventh.
“The biggest difference this year is teams that have typically been playing on Wednesday night in the SEC tournament, meaning the bottom four, have improved. And as a result, I believe the league top to bottom is going to be outstanding.”
Missouri finished in the SEC cellar each of the past three seasons. On Wednesday, the Tigers were picked to finish fifth in the league.
This is what happens when your new coach – Cuonzo Martin – lands a top-five recruiting class.
Porter Jr. is a 6-foot-10, 215-pounder who draws Kevin Durant comparisons for his combination of size and skill. His younger brother, Jontay Porter, reclassified in August and now will bring his 6-11, 240-pound frame to SEC courts this season, too. Jontay is also a five-star prospect.
Puryear, a 6-7 junior forward, said he’s not “mad or jealous” by the attention the Porters have brought to the program. The Tigers are 18-45 since Puryear came to Missouri.
“It’s been a pleasure being with the freshmen,” Puryear said. “We’re glad. I mean, we didn’t get it done last year, so we needed to make some changes. Adding the freshman class that we did is great. They’re extremely talented and great people as well.
“Even though we haven’t won as many games, (the veteran players) still have experience with game atmospheres and have been in tough games and stuff like that. So we can pass it down to them. They’re very teachable when it comes to that. They’re very good listeners.”
South Carolina, which was picked by media members to finish 11th in the SEC, opens the home portion of its league schedule by hosting Missouri on Jan. 3. Less than a week later, it travels to Alabama, a recent middle-of-the-pack finisher that’s now pegged for a four-seed in the SEC tournament.
After Porter, the preseason co-player of the year, the Crimson Tide’s Collin Sexton might be the league’s next best rookie. The 6-3 guard is a preseason second team All-SEC selection.
“I’ve got unbelievable respect for the coaches in this league,” said USC coach Frank Martin. “I will not be surprised if us or another team in this league makes a run like we did last year, because this league prepares you for it. This league is so well coached, the players are so good, it’s a shame everyone outside the players and coaches don’t realize how good this league is. Five years ago, I couldn’t say that. But the last three years, this league’s gotten real good.
“At the end of the year, I might be sitting here, happy that we finished in 11th place.”
The SEC hasn’t gotten more than five teams to the Big Dance since 2008 when it got six.
Florida coach Mike White said Wednesday there’s potential for eight NCAA tournament teams this season.
“That wouldn’t be shocking,” White said. “I think we have more that are capable. Obviously we’re all going to beat each other up in league play. But the biggest factor will be, in my opinion, just stating the obvious here, how well we do in the nonconference, taking care of home court and winning some neutral site games against some other leagues.
“But from a capability standpoint, I think we have several.”
Buzzing all the way through March? The SEC again likes its chances.
“I think the national narrative is going to change,” Kennedy said.
This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Why the SEC is buzzing about basketball – in October."