SEC coaches give top honors to Wilbekin, Donovan

By The Associated Press

Posted 6:34PM on Tuesday, March 11, 2014

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA -- No. 1 Florida nearly swept the coaches' Southeastern Conference individual awards.

The league announced Tuesday that Florida's Billy Donovan is coach of the year and Gators point guard Scottie Wilbekin is player of the year.

Coaches also selected Florida's Patric Young as the top defensive player and scholar-athlete. He's won the academic award for the past three years.

Kentucky's Julius Randle is the pick as the top SEC freshman and Florida's Dorian Finney-Smith is sixth man of the year.

It's the second straight coach of the year honor for Donovan, who led the Gators to an 18-0 regular-season SEC mark.

Wilbekin averages 12.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals for the Gators.

Randle is averaging 15.4 points and 10.5 rebounds. Finney-Smith is averaging 9.4 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds.