House, Caruso Honored as All-SEC by League Coaches

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference unveiled its 12th annual men’s basketball coaches preseason All-SEC first and second teams on Thursday and the Aggies were represented by Danuel Houseon the first team and Alex Caruso on the second team.

Nine different schools are represented on the two teams with Kentucky having four selections while Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have two selections each. In all, 37 different players received votes for the coaches’ teams.

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

House, a 6-foot-7 guard, emerged as one of the SEC’s most explosive and consistent scorers last year during his first season at Texas A&M. The Fresno, Texas, native garnered first team All-SEC honors after ranking fourth among all league players in scoring during league games at 16.2 points per game.

For the entire season, House led the Aggies and ranked ninth in the SEC by scoring 14.8 points per contest while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from 3-point range. He scored 20 or more points in seven games last year, including three outings with 25 or more points.

Caruso, a three-year letterwinner from College Station, enjoyed another impressive season as a junior in 2014-15 and earned honorable mention All-SEC accolades from the Associated Press. Caruso started all 33 games for the Aggies, averaging 31.5 minutes per contest and increasing his scoring average for the second straight season, finishing with a 9.1 point-per-game pace for the season inducing a 10.1 scoring average during league play.

The 6-foot-5 guard dished out 182 assists for an average of 5.5 per contest becoming the first player to pace the SEC in assists for two consecutive seasons since Nick Calathes of Florida in 2008 and 2009. Caruso also led the SEC in steals with 69 (2.1 per contest).

Caruso, House and their Aggie teammates officially tip off the 2015-16 campaign Friday at 8:30 p.m. when they host USC Upstate inside Reed Arena.

A list of the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Coaches Preseason All-SEC team follows:

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC
Dorian Finney-Smith – Florida, F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.
Kenny Gaines – Georgia, G, 6-3, 205, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.
Skal Labissiere – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 225, Fr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tyler Ulis – Kentucky, G, 5-9, 160, So., Lima, Ohio
Ben Simmons – LSU, F, 6-10, 225, Fr., Melbourne, Australia
Stefan Moody – Ole Miss, G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Danuel House – Texas A&M, G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas
Damian Jones – Vanderbilt, C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.

SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
Jamal Murray – Kentucky, G, 6-4, 207, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario
Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 230, Sr., Clarksville, Tenn.
Tim Quarterman – LSU, G, 6-6, 190, Jr., Savannah, Ga.
Malik Newman – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 178, Fr., Jackson, Miss.
Craig Sword – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 196, Sr., Montgomery, Ala.
Sindarius Thornwell – South Carolina, G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Lancaster, S.C.
Alex Caruso – Texas A&M, G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas
Riley LaChance – Vanderbilt, G, 6-2, 182, So., Brookfield, Wis.

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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