Freshman Wall named SEC player of the year

Kentucky freshman guard John Wall was named Southeastern Conference player of the year by conference coaches, while South Carolina's Devan Downey and Georgia's Trey Thompkins were named to the first team.

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Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings was named coach of the year. Freshman of the year honors went Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins, while Florida's Ray Shipman was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Mississippi State's shotblocking center Jarvis Varnado was voted the top defensive player for the third consecutive year. Vanderbilt's John Jenkins was the league's top sixth man.

Wall, Kentucky's all-time leading freshman scoring and assist leader, leads the SEC and is fifth nationally in assists (6.2). He is fifth in the league in scoring (16.8).

Downey, a senior guard who leads the SEC in scoring (22.6) and steals (2.8), is the first South Carolina player to been named to the first team in three consecutive seasons.

Thompkins, a sophomore forward, is Georgia's first All-SEC first-team selection since Jarvis Hayes in 2002 and 2003. He leads the Bulldogs in scoring (17.7) and rebounding (8.2).

Stallings led Vanderbilt to 23 regular-season wins, which ties for third most in school history with the 1965 and 1974 teams.

ACC AWARDS: Maryland swept the top honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with Gary Williams winning coach of the year and Greivis Vasquez capturing player of the year.

Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors was named rookie of the year, while Florida State's Chris Singleton was the defensive player of the year.

The winners were determined by a vote of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

Williams received 42 of 53 votes. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was second with eight votes.

Vasquez won the league's top individual honor following a season in which he averaged nearly 20 points and helped lead the Terrapins to a share of the regular-season title. He received 39 of a possible 53 votes. Duke's Jon Scheyer received 12 votes.

Favors is the 11th Georgia Tech player to win the award and first since Chris Bosh in 2003. No other school has won more than eight times.

Favors averaged 11.9 points and 8.4 rebounds this season to lead all league freshmen in scoring, rebounding, double-doubles, blocked shots and shooting percentage.