A&M’s Williams Named SEC Defensive Player of the Year; Davis Earns All-SEC Honors

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Texas A&M freshman standout Robert Williams was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday as the league’s coaches announced their annual awards. Williams also garnered second team All-SEC accolades, an honor which he shared with teammate Tyler Davis.

Additionally, Williams earned a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman and All-Defensive Teams.

The Oil City, La., native came to Texas A&M ranked as the nation’s No. 50 recruit by ESPN but has developed into one of the country’s brightest rookies during his few months in Aggieland. Williams has notched 11 double-doubles this season, the second most among all SEC players while averaging a near double-double during league play with 12.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest. Also in league play, Williams leads the SEC in blocked shots (46), while ranking second in both rebounding (9.6 per game), offensive rebounding (3.6 offensive rebounds per game) and field goal percentage (.542).

On the defensive end, Williams has stood out as one of the NCAA’s most disruptive forces this season. He owns the nation’s longest active blocked shot streak, having collected a swat in every game this season, while posting 22 multi-block games as well as eight games with four or more blocks. A three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, Williams’ 76 total blocked shots are 16th-most among all Division-I player this season and the second most by an Aggie for a single season, trailing only David Harris' 108 in 1989-90.

Davis, meanwhile, is being honored by the SEC coaches for the second straight season after garnering SEC All-Freshman Team distinction a season ago. The Plano, Texas, native, who was named SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 12, paces the SEC and ranks 14th nationally in field goal percentage by converting 62.1 percent of his shot attempts. Davis averages 14.0 points per contest this season to rank 13th in the league and pulls down 6.9 boards per contest, checking in at eighth in the conference in rebounding.

The 6-foot-10 sophomore has four double-doubles this season and Tuesday was also named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VII Team.

Texas A&M will begin its run at the 2017 SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday when the Aggies face Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. inside Bridgestone Arena.

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

KeVaughn Allen, Florida

J.J. Frazier, Georgia

Yante Maten, Georgia

De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky

Malik Monk, Kentucky

Sebastian Saiz, Ole Miss

Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina

Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt

SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC

Moses Kingsley, Arkansas

Kasey Hill, Florida