BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference unveiled its 17th annual men’s basketball coaches preseason All-SEC first and second teams Thursday, tipping off the 2020-21 season.

Tennessee was one of six teams with multiple selections, as seniors Yves Pons and John Fulkerson were first-team honorees.

The coaches’ preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the 14 SEC head coaches. No ties were broken, and no predicted order of finish was made.

Tennessee’s most experienced returners, Pons and Fulkerson have both earned several preseason honors in recent weeks. In a preseason media poll, both were among the select group of players who received votes for SEC Player of the Year. Fulkerson appears on the watch list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award, while Pons is a candidate for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.

And it was announced earlier Thursday that Pons—who is the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year—appears on the initial 50-man watch list for the prestigious Naismith Trophy for College Player of the Year.

The Vols enter the season ranked 12th in the Associated Press national preseason poll, with action set to tipoff Wednesday against Charlotte in the opening game of the Volunteer Classic at Thompson-Boling Arena (8 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

First-Team All-SEC
John Petty Jr. – Alabama
Keyontae Johnson – Florida
Brandon Boston Jr. – Kentucky
Javonte Smart – LSU
Trendon Watford – LSU
AJ Lawson – South Carolina
John Fulkerson – Tennessee
Yves Pons – Tennessee

Second-Team All-SEC
Herbert Jones – Alabama
Desi Sills – Arkansas
Scottie Lewis – Florida
Olivier Sarr – Kentucky
Devontae Shuler – Ole Miss
Dru Smith – Missouri
Jermaine Couisnard – South Carolina
Savion Flagg – Texas A&M
Scottie Pippen Jr. – Vanderbilt

-UT Athletics