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The SEC’s best put on a big-time show all week in Nashville during the SEC Tournament, and on Sunday after Florida took apart Tennessee to win the title, the conference revealed a star-studded all-tournament team led by Gators standout Walter Clayton Jr.
Clayton scored 22 points to power the 2nd-seeded Gators to an 86-77 victory over the 4th-seeded Volunteers in Sunday’s championship game, and he was rewarded right afterward by being named as an all-tournament performer.
Clayton was the star of stars this past week in Nashville, as he was also named SEC Tournament MVP. Clayton averaged 20.7 points in the Gators’ 3 victories this week, was 13 of 26 from 3-point territory, and chipped in 4.7 assists and 2 steals per contest to lead UF to glory.
Clayton’s teammate, Will Richard, joined him on the all-tourney team after he added 17 points in the title game victory on Sunday.
Auburn star Johni Broome couldn’t lead the Tigers to a tournament title, as they fell short in the semifinals on Saturday. But Broome was still named to the all-tournament team a day later. He was joined by the Tennessee duo of Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey, who came off the bench on Sunday to score 24 points in the championship game.
Now, these SEC standouts and their teams will wait a few hours on Sunday to see where their NCAA Tournament journeys will begin.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
