KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Expectations were pretty low for Ole Miss this season.
With a new coach at the helm, the Rebels were predicted to finish last in the Southeastern Conference’s preseason media poll.

The Rebels, though, exceeded expectations and finished first in the postseason by at least one measure.

Kermit Davis, who has guided the Rebels to a 20-win season a year after they lost 20 games, was named the SEC’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday by both the Associated Press and the league’s coaches.

Davis earned coach of the year honors for his role in making Ole Miss the SEC’s biggest surprise in his debut season. Davis took over Ole Miss’ program after coaching Middle Tennessee for 16 seasons.

Ole Miss (20-11, 10-8 SEC) is tied for sixth place in the SEC and is likely to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. The SEC preseason media poll projected Ole Miss to finish last in the conference.

Ole Miss will play Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

“It’s been a year that went by really fast with a lot of hard work, but it’s been one of the most rewarding years I’ve ever had as a coach,” said Davis, a Mississippi native. “To see The Pavilion come to life every game. See these players improve. We had good guards coming back and I just want to see them in the NCAA Tournament and enjoying it.”

Davis is the sixth Ole Miss coach to win the award. He’s also just the third active SEC head coach to win at least 20 games in his first season in the conference, along with Kentucky’s John Calipari and Florida’s Mike White.

Davis was helped along by guards Breein Tyree and Terence Davis, who both were selected to the All-SEC team. Tyree was a first-team pick by the coaches and a second-teamer on the AP squad. Davis was a second-team pick on the coaches’ All-SEC team.

Tyree ranks second in the SEC in scoring at 18.5 points per game, and has scored at least 20 points in 17 games this season. Davis is averaging 15.5 points per game to rank seventh in the conference, and is ninth in shooting percentage at 45.5 percent.

The first-team All-SEC picks by the Associated Press were Tennessee forward Grant Williams, Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford, Kentucky’s PJ Washington, LSU’s Tremont Waters and Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon.

Those five were joined by Tyree, South Carolina’s Chris Silva and Tennessee’s Admiral Schofield on the coaches’ all-conference first team.

Weatherspoon is the first Mississippi State player to earn first- or second-team AP All-SEC honors since 2012.

Weatherspoon is tied with Tyree for second in the SEC in scoring.

Williams was selected as the SEC Player of the Year by both the AP and the coaches. Williams leads the SEC in scoring (19.3) and ranks fifth in rebounds (7.7) and 11th in assists (3.3). The 6-foot-7 junior has improved across the board from his sophomore year, when SEC coaches selected him as the league’s player of the year while the AP voting panel chose Georgia’s Yante Maten instead.

Last season, Williams averaged 15.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
Williams is the first Volunteer selected as AP player of the year since Chris Lofton in 2007.

“I think he’s improved in every area of the game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “He’s versatile. He worked in the offseason, shooting the ball better, wanted to extend his range, and I think he’s done that.

“You look at it and I don’t think there’s any one part where he hasn’t gotten better,” Barnes added. “I think even mentally, because he’s had to face double-teams, all kinds of things from game to game, and I think his mental approach has probably been his biggest improvement.”

LSU’s Waters and Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans were the Co-Defensive Players of the Year.
This is the first year since 2007 that no freshman was an AP All-SEC first- or second-team selection. At least one freshman made the first team every season from 2010-18.