TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler motivated by All-SEC Second Team honors

Oscar Tshiebwe wasn’t the only Kentucky Wildcat to receive recognition from the Southeastern Conference this morning. TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler were named Second Team All-SEC by the league’s coaches, with Washington also making the All-Freshman team. Both players called the honor a blessing, but Washington admitted not making the First Team gives the duo a little extra motivation heading into the postseason.

“Both seeing our names on the Second Team list, we had a little bit of something to say about that,” TyTy said. “But other than that, we’re just going to go out and finish the rest of this season out strong and show everybody why we feel like we’re the best backcourt in the nation.”

Wheeler was a Second-Team All-SEC selection last year at Georgia too. He said receiving recognition in a league as competitive as the SEC is humbling but pointed out that if he and TyTy hadn’t missed time due to injury, they may have made the First Team after all.

“As a basketball player or a competitor you want to be on the First Team but then again there are guys that are really good players in this league who probably thought they should have made it as well. It’s just a blessing to be able to be recognized by all the coaches across the league who deserves to be All-SEC. It’s the second time for me so I’m very humbled and very excited about that.

“I’m pleased where I’m at and also considering TyTy and I missed some time, we missed some games. Maybe, who knows, if we go out there and we win some of those games and we perform well, maybe that would have put us over the edge for the First Team. But just to be able to be recognized in this kind of league with great players. It’s the best league in the country by far and to be recognized as one of the top players is great right there.”

We’ve heard all season about how close this team is on and off the court; that particularly applies to Washington and Wheeler. Last night, the two guards went to see the new Batman movie, which TyTy rated 8.5/10.

“On the court, we feel like we’re both guards on our team, we’re the leaders on the court so we always stay connected. Me and him we’ve both got really great personalities. Every time we’re in the game, no matter what’s the score or time or situation, we’re always laughing, sticking our tongues out. It just really shows that we care about each other on and off the court. Last night, we went to go see — me, him, and a few other of our friends — went to see the Batman movie and we were in there just cracking jokes. He’s a really good dude. Just seeing how far we both came up to now and just knowing we’re not finished yet.”