Oct. 22, 2014

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team was tabbed by the media to win its 46th Southeastern Conference championship this season as announced by the league office on Wednesday. Sophomore Aaron Harrison was selected by the media as the favorite to win the league’s Player of the Year honor.

Voting was conducted by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Each school selected media members that cover their team and additional media from across the nation were selected by the conference office to comprise the voting panel. Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team.

The Wildcats received all 20 first place votes as the preseason’s overall favorite. It marks the first time since 1995-96 that Kentucky was a unanimous league pick and the 10th time since 1998-99 that UK was the early-season pick.

In addition to earning honors as the preseason SEC Player of the Year, Harrison was named to the All-SEC First Team. He is the only Wildcat to appear on the first team ballot. Harrison is UK’s leading returning scorer after averaging 13.7 points per game as a freshman. The Richmond, Texas, native hit 62 3-pointers on the year including three memorable game-clinching shots in the NCAA Tournament.

Four Wildcats were selected to the All-SEC Second Team, and each player received at least one vote as a potential pick for the Player of the Year award. Juniors Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress, sophomore Andrew Harrison and freshman Karl-Anthony Towns were the additional Wildcats selected.

Kentucky tips off the 2014-15 season on Monday, Oct. 27 with the annual Blue-White Scrimmage in Rupp Arena at 7 p.m. ET. The SEC Network will be on hand to televise the event with Dave Baker and Jeff Piecoro on the call, as well as former Wildcat Mark Krebs providing insight from the sidelines.