Georgia Basketball: Maten and Parker receive SEC honors

Georgia Basketball hasn’t had much to celebrate this season, but two of their best players both received some much-deserved recognition.

The Georgia Basketball season has not gone the way that most people thought it would. There are plenty of rumours swirling that Mark Fox will likely be out of a job soon. This means that most fans are looking ahead to next fall. Despite the up and down nature of the team’s season, two UGA players recently received some good news.

Yante Maten, the team’s best player, was named to the All-SEC 1st team as voted on by the coaches and was also selected as the AP SEC Player of the Year. Maten, a senior, will finish his career as having scored the 2nd-most points in program history, and he will likely have a professional basketball career in his near future. He will go down as one of the best players in the history of Georgia basketball.

Surprise award for Parker

If it feels like Juwan Parker has been at UGA forever, it’s because he has. Parker has been on the Dawgs’ roster since 2013. Due to some injury issues and redshirt opportunities, he has been able to extend his eligibility which allows him to play as a 5th year senior this season.

Often referred to as “the most educated man in the NCAA,” Parker already has his bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. Currently, he’s working on a second graduate degree. To nobody’s surprise, Parker was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier this week. I can think of no person that is more deserving of this award than Juwan Parker. His dedication to the classroom and constant triumphs over adversity during his time in Athens have made him an all-time fan favourite.

Georgia heads into SEC tournament play this week, with Vanderbilt being its first opponent. The Dawgs would likely have to win the entire tournament to receive a berth in the NCAA tournament. The team may not even make a lower-tier postseason tournament like the NIT.

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In reality, the Georgia careers of Yante Maten and Juwan Parker will be over soon. Both of these players will be dearly missed by fans and coaches alike. Despite the disappointing season the team had this year, it’s nice to see these two outstanding young men being honoured for their accomplishments this season.