Rick Barnes has scarcely taken Yves Pons off the court lately.

It's for good reason: The Tennessee forward was named the SEC defensive player of the year Tuesday by the league's coaches.

“Obviously, I think he’s the defensive player of the year because you think about taking him off the court with us and how many fix-it plays he has fixed for his teammates," Barnes said Monday. ""He has had more fix-it plays than any other player we’ve coached in a long time."

The 6-foot-6 Pons has tied the Tennessee single-season block record this season with 73 heading into the SEC Tournament. He leads the SEC with 2.4 blocks per game. He has blocked a shot in all 31 of Tennessee's regular-season games and blocked three or more 15 times.

John Fulkerson was named second-team All-SEC by the league's coaches after his breakout season.

Vanderbilt guard Saben Lee also was a second-team selection and Scotty Pippen Jr. was named to the all-freshman team.

Pons was named to the All-SEC defensive team in addition to his individual honors as the first Vol to win the league's defensive player of the year award.

"For a guy his size to make those kind of plays, and he takes great joy in doing it while still doing his job," Barnes said. "He’s had to guard anywhere for a point guard to a post guy in this league, and we’re not afraid to put him in any of those situations. It’s his fix-it plays why I think he should be (defensive) player of the year. ...

"Yves, to me, is not only a guy that can guard people from every position, but the fact that he can do that and still go help his teammate at so many different levels is what makes him so impressive on the defensive end.”

Fulkerson, a 6-9 junior, averaged 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season. He raised his output to 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in SEC play.

He is averaging 18.3 points per game in his past 10 games.

"The way he has finished the year, he has finished the year as well as anybody in the league," Barnes said. "I do think he is worthy of that.”

Fulkerson, who averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in a reserve role as a sophomore, had his best performance at Kentucky on March 3. He scored a career-high 27 points and carried the Vols as they came back from a 17-point deficit to win at Rupp Arena.

He had four 20-point games and scored in double figures in all but four SEC games.

Lee had a tremendous junior season in Jerry Stackhouse's first year at Vanderbilt. He averaged 18.2 points per game and upped his scoring to 19.9 in SEC games.

He tallied 4.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game as well.

The 6-2 guard had three 30-point games and averaged 22.9 points per game in his past 10 outings.

Pippen paired with Lee in the Commodores backcourt and averaged 11.9 points per game. He, like Lee, increased his scoring in SEC play to 12.3 points per game.

A complete list of the 2020 SEC Men's Basketball postseason awards follows:

First Team All-SEC

Kira Lewis Jr., Alabama; Mason Jones, Arkansas; Samir Doughty, Auburn; Keyontae Johnson, Florida; Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky; Nick Richards, Kentucky; Skylar Mays, LSU; Breein Tyree, Ole Miss; Reggie Perry, Mississippi State

Second Team All-SEC

John Petty Jr., Alabama; Isaac Okoro, Auburn; Kerry Blackshear Jr., Florida; Anthony Edwards, Georgia; Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky; Maik Kotsar, South Carolina; John Fulkerson, Tennessee; Saben Lee, Vanderbilt

All-Freshman Team

Jaden Shackelford, Alabama; Isaac Okoro, Auburn; Scottie Lewis, Florida; Anthony Edwards, Georgia; Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky; Trendon Watford, LSU; Jermaine Couisnard, South Carolina; Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt

All-Defensive Team

Herbert Jones, Alabama; Isaac Okoro, Auburn; Ashton Hagans, Kentucky; Nick Richards, Kentucky; Yves Pons, Tennessee

Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky

Player of the Year: Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Skylar Mays, LSU

Freshman of the Year: Anthony Edwards, Georgia

Sixth-Man of the Year: Tyson Carter, Mississippi State

Defensive Player of the Year: Yves Pons, Tennessee

The media awards are as follows with "u'" indicating a unanimous selection:

First team All-SEC

Kira Lewis Jr., Alabama; u-Mason Jones, Arkansas; u-Reggie Perry, Mississippi State; Nick Richards, Kentucky; Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky

Second-team All-SEC

Samir Doughty, Auburn; Anthony Edwards, Georgia; Keyontae Johnson, Florida; Skylar Mays, LSU; Breein Tyree, Mississippi

Coach of the year: Buzz Williams, Texas A&M

Player of the year: Mason Jones, Arkansas, and Reggie Perry, Mississippi State

Newcomer of the year: Anthony Edwards, Georgia