Four Kentucky players honored with SEC awards by league coaches

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SEC — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

It’s award season, folks! And a handful of Kentucky Wildcats are being recognized by the SEC.

The Southeastern Conference announced its postseason award winners on Monday afternoon. Four different Kentucky players picked up a total of eight accolades from the league’s coaches. They include:

Sr. G Antonio Reeves (All-SEC First-Team)
Fr. G Reed Sheppard (All-SEC Second-Team, Freshman of the Year, All-Freshman Team)
Fr. G Rob Dillingham (All-SEC Second-Team, Sixth Man of the Year, All-Freshman Team)
Fr. G DJ Wagner (All-Freshman Team)

Kentucky head coach John Calipari has now coached 35 players (37 total honors) to All-SEC awards. He’s also produced a total of 34 All-Freshman Team players with at least one making the list in all 15 of his seasons at the helm. Sheppard is Calipari’s 10th SEC Freshman of the Year award winner and first since Keldon Johnson in 2019.

Reeves just missed out on SEC Player of the Year (that honor was given to Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht), but he was more than deserving of a spot on the All-SEC First-Team. Through 31 regular season games for Kentucky, the fifth-year senior averaged 20.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 31.7 minutes per outing. Reeves’ shooting splits of 50.7 percent overall, 44 percent from deep, and 88 percent from the line were all career highs. He scored at least 20 points in 19 of his games played and had just one game without double-figures in scoring (nine points against North Carolina).

On top of his SEC awards, Sheppard will also be in contention to win National Freshman of the Year. The native of London, KY was arguably the nation’s top reserve this season, too. Sheppard finished the regular season with averages of 12.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals in 28.9 minutes per game. He shot the ball at elite clips: 54 percent overall, 52.6 percent from deep, and 84.1 percent from the line.

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As for Dillingham, he’s projected to be a top-five pick in this summer’s 2024 NBA Draft. During his regular-season freshman campaign, the shifty guard averaged 15 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 steals in just 23 minutes per contest off the bench. Dillingham shot 48.2 percent from the field, 44.5 percent from distance, and 77.8 percent from the stripe. His 35 points against Tennessee in early February were the most by a Wildcat this season.

Finally, Wagner has had an up-and-down season for Kentucky due to an ankle injury, but he’s a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner who is playing his best basketball as of late. The rookie averaged 10.3 points and 3.3 assists in 26 minutes per game while starting 26 of his 27 games played. On the season, Wagner shot 41.6 percent overall, 30.7 percent from long range, and 76.2 percent from the line.