BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference men”s basketball coaches Wednesday selected Mississippi State guards Dee Bost and Ravern Johnson and University of Mississippi guard Chris Warren to the league”s preseason All-SEC team.
Bost, a 6-foot-3 junior from Concord, N.C., and Warren, a 5-10 senior, were named first-team All-SEC, while Johnson, a 6-7 senior from Lyon, received second-team honors.
It marks the third straight year that the Rebels” point guard has been selected preseason All-SEC. He also was a first-team All-SEC pick by the media.
Neither Bost nor Johnson made the writers” All-SEC teams announced a week ago.
“I”m glad the coaches know a little bit more about basketball than the writers,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “In all seriousness, I”m proud of these guys. Dee”s challenge will be getting himself ready in January after missing 14 games. But I”ve really liked his attitude and approach with how he”s handling everything. He”s showing a great deal of maturity.
“I”m really glad for Ravern. We need for him to step up and have a big year for us. Ravern is capable of helping us in so many ways other than just being a great 3-point shooter.”
In his two years at MSU, Bost has totaled 860 points and 344 assists. Last year, he averaged 13 points and was second in the SEC with 188 assists after setting the MSU freshman record with 156 in 2008-09.
Warren, a native or Orlando, Fla., The Orlando, Fla., has 1,372 points and 324 assists in his first three years at Ole Miss. In the two years he has played a full season, he has led the Rebels to 24 wins and an NIT Final Four berth each time. Despite missing 20 games to injury as a sophomore, he still has a chance to become just the fourth SEC player ever to amass 2,000 points and 400 assists in a career. He is on pace to shatter several school records, including most 3-pointers in a career. He enters his senior year third on that list with 239 treys.
Johnson enters his final season needing just 32 points to become the 32nd player in school history to reach 1,000 for a career. He has 177 3-pointers, which leaves him 103 shy of Barry Stewart”s record of 280. Last year, Johnson was 87 of 214 from long range.
Florida led all schools with four selections, while Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, MSU, and Vanderbilt had two selections each. In all, nine schools are represented on the preseason squads.
MSU will open the season Nov. 6 at Humphrey Coliseum against Lindsey Wilson in exhibition play. The regular-season opener is slated for Nov. 12 at home against Tennessee State.
Ole Miss will play Delta State at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 in an exhibition game. It will open its season at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 against Arkansas State at home.
Fans will also have a chance to “Meet the Rebels” at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in The Grove prior to the school”s home football game against Auburn.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.