Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn had a word for Tennessee’s Grant Williams on Saturday.

Malzahn, who saw Williams after Saturday’s game against the Tigers, told the Vols forward he is a “great player” after Williams completed another standout season in a Tennessee uniform.

On Tuesday, that standout season netted Williams a second straight SEC Player of the Year award. He won the award from both the coaches and the Associated Press after winning the coaches vote last season.

Williams is the first player to win back-to-back SEC Player of the Year awards since Arkansas’ Corliss Williamson did so in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.

Williams also was a first-team All-SEC pick by the coaches and the media, which named him a unanimous first-teamer.

Senior guard Admiral Schofield earned All-SEC first-team honors from the league's coaches and was a second-team pick by the media. Junior guard Jordan Bone was a second-team pick by both the coaches and the media.

Williams followed a dynamite sophomore campaign, in which he split the SEC Player of the Year honors with Georgia’s Yante Maten, with an even better third year.

The Charlotte, N.C., native led the SEC in scoring with 19.3 points per game and ranked fifth in rebounding with 7.7 per game. He finished second in the league with a field-goal percentage of 56.9. He scored at least 20 points in eight SEC games, including a career-best 43 in a win at Vanderbilt on Jan. 23. He made all 23 free-throw attempts in that outing while becoming the first Vol since Allan Houston in 1990 to score 40 points in a game.

Williams is the first Volunteer selected as AP's SEC Player of the Year since Chris Lofton in 2007.

The only other Vols selected as AP SEC players of the year since the award started in 1965 are Ron Widby (1967), Bernard King (1976 and 1977), Ernie Grunfeld (1977), Dale Ellis (1982 and 1983) and Ron Slay (2003.) King and Grunfeld were named co-players of the year in 1977.

Bone had a breakout junior season, boosting his scoring from 7.3 points per game as a sophomore to 13.4. He led the SEC with 6.1 assists per game.

He had a career game against Kentucky on March 2, scoring 27 points and making all five of his 3-point attempts.

Schofield, who was a second-team selection last season, was a key performer for the Vols in concert with Bone and Williams. He averaged 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range.

All-SEC Teams

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Player of the Year: Grant Williams, Tennessee

Coach of the Year: Kermit Davis, Ole Miss

Newcomer of the Year: Tyler Herro, Kentucky

First team (listed alphabetically): Daniel Gafford, Arkansas, F, Soph.; PJ Washington, Kentucky, F, Soph.; Tremont Waters, LSU, G, Soph.; Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State, G, Sr.; u-Grant Williams, Tennessee, F, Jr.

Second team: Jordan Bone, Tennessee, G, Jr.; Jared Harper, Auburn, G, Jr.; Admiral Schofield, Tennessee, G, Sr.; Breein Tyree, Mississippi, G, Jr.; Chris Silva, South Carolina, F, Sr.

u-unanimous selection

COACHES

Coach of the Year: Kermit Davis, Ole Miss

Player of the Year: Grant Williams, Tennessee

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Skylar Mays, LSU

Freshman of the Year: Keldon Johnson, Kentucky

Sixth-Man of the Year: Hassani Gravett, South Carolina

Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Tremont Waters, LSU and Ashton Hagans, Kentucky

First Team: Daniel Gafford, Arkansas; PJ Washington, Kentucky; Tremont Waters, LSU; Breein Tyree, Ole Miss; Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State; Chris Silva, South Carolina; Admiral Schofield, Tennessee; Grant Williams, Tennessee

Second Team: Bryce Brown, Auburn; Jared Harper, Auburn; Nicolas Claxton, Georgia; Tyler Herro, Kentucky; Keldon Johnson, Kentucky; Skylar Mays, LSU; Terence Davis, Ole Miss; Jordan Bone, Tennessee

All-Freshman Team: Kira Lewis Jr., Alabama; Isaiah Joe, Arkansas; Andrew Nembhard, Florida; Tyler Herro, Kentucky; Keldon Johnson, Kentucky; Naz Reid, LSU; Reggie Perry, Mississippi State; A.J. Lawson, South Carolina

All-Defensive Team: Donta Hall, Alabama; Daniel Gafford, Arkansas; Ashton Hagans, Kentucky; Tremont Waters, LSU; Chris Silva, South Carolina

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