clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Florida’s Mike White named SEC Coach of the Year, Canyon Barry named Sixth Man

Several Gators received league honors today.

By leligator
NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at Florida Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Gators men’s basketball head coach Mike White has been named SEC Coach of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday.

White led Florida to 24 regular-season wins — a win total which is tied for third-most in program history — in his second season with the Gators, building them from a team that had to settle for a top seed in the NIT in 2015-16 to one that can seemingly count on a top-four seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

This is not the first time that White had been named the Coach of the Year for his conference. White was named WAC Coach of the Year in 2013 and Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2015 while at Louisiana Tech.

Florida’s head coach was not the only Gator to receive league recognition today.

White had threatened to “throw a fit” if Canyon Barry was not named the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year, but such a tantrum will not be necessary: The SEC gave Barry that distinction today, making him the third such Gator to receive that honor after Dorian Finney-Smith (2014) and Chris Richard (2007). The graduate transfer averaged 12.5 points per game and is Florida’s top free throw shooter, making 101 free throws during the regular season.

Despite posting the sixth-best Offensive Rating in conference play, though, Barry ranks just 24th in the SEC in points per game, which likely had something to do with him missing out on other all-SEC honors. Two other Gators did not.

The Gators’ leading scorer, KeVaughn Allen, was named a first-team All-SEC performer. Allen averaged 13.9 points per game for Florida this year, good for 16th in the SEC. Allen is the first Gator sophomore to be named to the first team since Kenny Boynton in 2012.

Senior Kasey Hill was recognized on the All-SEC second team and the SEC All-Defensive Team. Hill ranks second in the conference in assists (4.6) and fourth in steals (1.7).

Florida is one of four teams that had multiple players receive All-SEC honors, but the Gators are the only team to have multiple individual award winners.