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Walker Kessler earns SEC co-Player of the Week after triple-double

Justin Hokansonby:Justin Hokanson•02/14/22•

_JHokanson

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Photo Credit: Auburn Athletics

AUBURN – Auburn sophomore 7-foot-1 forward/Center Walker Kessler (Newnan, Ga.) garnered SEC Co-Player of the Week honors as announced by the conference office on Monday.

He shared the weekly award with Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe. It marked his third weekly honor this season.

“Walker Kessler, he’s one of the most dominant players in college basketball,” Bruce Pearl said after Kessler recorded his second triple-double in SEC play this season.

One of the top big men in the country, he is currently one of the Top 10 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.

In an article in The Athletic recently, an anonymous SEC coach said this of Kessler: “There’s nothing you can do with Walker Kessler. He impacts the game so much from a defensive standpoint. He can score the ball, but he doesn’t have to score to be impactful.”

For the week, Kessler averaged 14.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 9.5 blocks per game at Arkansas and against Texas A&M combined. He recorded his second triple-double of the season and career with 12 points, 11 rebounds and career-high 12 blocks against Texas A&M on Feb. 12. Kessler also tallied 16 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and seven stops in overtime against the Razorbacks on Feb. 8.

He is currently the only player in NCAA Division I with multiple triple-doubles. Kessler became only the fifth player in SEC history to record mutiple triple-doubles (2) next to Shaquille O’Neal (6) of LSU, Nick Calathes (2) of Florida, Roy Rogers (2) of Alabama and Jarvis Varnado (2) of Mississippi State.

RELATED: What We Learned in Auburn’s bounce back against Texas A&M

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