Four Alabama Men’s Basketball Players Earn SEC All-Conference Honors
3/8/2022 10:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Shackelford named to second team and Ellis tabbed to all-defensive team, while Davison and Bediako earn all-freshman honors
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced the league's 2022 men's basketball postseason honors Tuesday, as Jaden Shackelford led four Alabama players who picked up league recognition. Shackelford earned second-team honors for a second consecutive year, while JD Davison and Charles Bediako were voted to the all-freshman team. Senior Keon Ellis also earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team.
It's the third straight year that Alabama has had four different players earn All-SEC honors in the same year. In addition, it marks the sixth consecutive season a Tide rookie earned a spot on the all-freshman team, joining Joshua Primo (2021), Jaden Shackelford (2020), Kira Lewis Jr. (2019), Collin Sexton (2018) and Braxton Key (2017).
Meanwhile, Ellis represents Alabama as one of the SEC's top defenders as a UA player picked up the honor for the fifth straight year after Donta Hall (2018, 2019) and Herbert Jones (2020, 2021) were each honored in back-to-back seasons, with Jones also earned the program's lone SEC Defensive Player of the Year last season.
JADEN SHACKELFORD – SECOND TEAM
- Picks up second team all-conference honors for the second straight year and third straight year receiving recognition after being named all-freshman team in his rookie campaign
- Earned SEC Player of the Week and NCAA National Player of the Week for Dec. 6 after defeating then-No. 3 Gonzaga
- Tops the Crimson Tide with 16.6 points per game, which ranks seventh in the SEC
- Leads Alabama in threes attempted (262), minutes (34.0 mpg) and 20-point scoring games (10), while ranking second on the team in rebounds (168) and threes made (93)
- Surpassed 1,000 career points in a 20-point effort against Oakland, becoming the 53rd player in Alabama history to reach the milestone
- Scored a career-high 30 points with a career-high tying eight three-pointers in the Tide's win against Ole Miss, shooting 8-of-13 from beyond the arc
JD DAVISON – ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
- Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week, picking up the honor for the weeks of Dec. 6 and Feb. 14
- In 31 contests, the Letohatchee, Ala., native started five games, ranking second on the team in assists (126) and steals (29), while third on the team in rebounds (147)
- Scored a career-high 20 points in the Tide's win over then-No. 3 Gonzaga, also adding five rebounds and three assists
- Recorded first career double-double against Miami at the ESPN Events Invitational with 13 points, 10 assists and six rebounds
- Also had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Vanderbilt
CHARLES BEDIAKO – ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
- Leads the team in blocks (51) while sitting third in the SEC with 1.6 blocks per game
- Tops the Crimson Tide in field goal percentage, making 69.1 percent of his shots and dunks (38)
- Led the Tide in scoring and rebounding against then-No. 5 Kentucky, matching his career high in both points with 12 and rebounds with eight
- Recorded a career-high six blocks in the Tide's win over then-No. 3 Gonzaga, while also adding eight rebounds – the first Tide player to swat 5+ shots in a game since Donta Hall
KEON ELLIS – ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
- Continues to showcase his defensive prowess earning 1.9 steals per game, good for seventh in the SEC
- Considered one of the top two-way players in the nation
- Ranks seventh in the SEC in steals (1.9 spg) and 13th in rebounding (6.0 rpg), while also averaging 12.1 ppg
- He's stepped up his play on defense in league action, ranking second with 2.3 steals per game in league action
- For the year, he tops the team in total +/- numbers (+99) and ranks sixth in the conference with an average of +9.9 per 40 minutes
- Ranks 27th in the nation and leads the SEC in free throw percentage (88.5 percentage), while topping the team in rebounds (185), and three-point percentage (36.4 percentage)
Sixth-seeded Alabama competes Thursday night when it takes on the winner of No. 11 seed Vanderbilt and No.14 seed Georgia in the 2022 SEC Tournament. The game will tip off 25 minutes after Game 5 (5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET) and will be televised on SEC Network.
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