Brewer Named Preseason SEC Player of the Year Again; Hogs Picked Third in West

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas junior Ronnie Brewer picked up another major preseason honor on Thursday by being named the preseason Southeastern Conference player of the year in media voting at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala.

Brewer edged LSU sophomore forward Glen Davis by one vote with Alabama forward Chuck Davis finishing third.

Brewer is also a member of the preseason first team, along with Glen and Chuck Davis, and Alabama’s Ronald Steele and Kentucky’s Rajon Rondo.

The Razorbacks are picked third in the SEC’s Western Division behind Alabama and LSU, and ahead of Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn.

Kentucky is tabbed to win the Eastern Division, followed by Florida, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

The preseason honor is the latest in a long line for Brewer, who earlier this fall was selected the league’s preseason player of the year by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, CBSSportsline.com and The Sporting News.

Brewer is the top returning scorer (16.2) and field goal percentage leader (.475) in the SEC this year. The 6-7 guard also led the team in rebounding (4.8), was eighth in the league in scoring, second in steals (2.53) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.66) while also averaging 3.4 assists per game.

So far this year, he has been named to the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, which goes to the top collegiate player in the nation; a third-team All-American by Athlon Sports, CBSSportsline.com and The Sporting News, and a fourth-team All-American by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook; the third-best slasher in the nation by Athlon, the fourth-best shooting guard by Lindy’s Basketball and the fourth-best wing/small forward by The Sporting News; first-team All-SEC by Athlon, Blue Ribbon, CBSSportsline.com, Lindy’s, Street & Smith’s, The Sporting News, the league’s coaches and now the media; and the SEC’s most versatile by Lindy’s and The Sporting News, the SEC’s best athlete by Street & Smith’s and the league’s top NBA prospect by Lindy’s.

Last year, Brewer scored 20 or more points eight times, had five or more rebounds 13 times, four or more assists 11 times, three or more steals 15 times, led the team in scoring 15 times, led the team in rebounding eight times and led the team in assists seven times.

Brewer has received the most attention, but he’s not the only Razorback earning preseason recognition.

Senior guard Jonathon Modica and sophomore forward Darian Townes were named to the preseason All-SEC second team selected by the league’s coaches.

Modica, who was also named to All-SEC teams selected by Athlon and Lindy’s, averaged 9.6 points and 2.8 rebounds as a junior. Last year, his field goal percentage improved from 46 percent as a sophomore to .520, which led the team, and his three-point percentage jumped from .325 to .429, which is the fourth-best among all SEC returnees.

Modica became the 28th Razorback to score 1,000 career points last year and he enters the season 24th on UA’s all-time list with 1,074 points.

Townes was second on the team in five categories last year – scoring (10.2), rebounding (4.6), shooting (.519), free throw percentage (.698) and blocked shots (1.6). His 17 double-figure scoring games are the fourth-most for a Razorback post player since 1995 and the most since Derek Hood reached double-digits 26 times in 1999.