On Monday, March 6, Alabama freshman forward Brandon Miller was officially named as the 2022-23 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, joining several other award winners in Tuscaloosa, including senior point guard Jahvon Quinerly.  

Miller, the 6-foot-9, 200-pound pride of Antioch, Tennessee, became only the fifth player in program history to take home player-of-the-year honors, joining Wendell Hudson, Reggie King, Erwin Dudley and Herbert Jones.  

 A projected lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Miller has taken the country by storm over the course of his freshman campaign, averaging 19.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 45% shooting from the floor and 40% from three-point range.  

“He’s got all kinds of different ways to score,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after a 108-59 win versus Georgia on Feb. 19. “You can try to take him out, you can do a really good job on him, and he still ends up with 13, 14, 15 points.”   

The first player to win both SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year since Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in 2011-12, Miller also received first-team All-SEC and All-Freshman honors.  

Quinerly, a 6-foot-1 guard from Hackensack, New Jersey, was named the 2022-23 Co-Sixth-Man of the Year, joining Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves.   

The first player in Crimson Tide history to take home the award, Quinerly is currently averaging 7.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists off the bench, posting double-digit scoring numbers in his last three contests, including a heroic 24-point, six assist effort to secure the SEC regular season championship versus Auburn on March 1.   

“I think he’s embellished the blue-collar winning attitude we’ve tried to establish here since year one,” Oats said after the game. “You know, he sat out as a redshirt because he was ineligible as a transfer, learned the system, he came in, first year he played was when we won the SEC. … I think he’s learned how to be a winner. He’s gotten better as a player, he’s gotten better as a leader, you could hear him in the huddles — I’m so proud of him as a leader.”   

After an eye-catching first year at the Capstone, junior guard Mark Sears was named to the All-SEC second team after finishing the regular season averaging a hearty 13.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists.  

Joining Miller on the All-Freshman team were counterparts Jaden Bradley and Noah Clowney, a pair of starters for the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide.  

Bradley, a 6-foot-1 guard from Bradenton, Florida, finished the regular season averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a heralded former five-star.    

Clowney, a 6-foot-10 forward from Roebuck, South Carolina, played well above expectation, averaging 10.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists on 48.8% shooting from the floor.   

Rounding out the awards for Alabama was seven-foot center Charles Bediako, who received first-team all-defense honors after averaging 5.7 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore.  

After a regular season for the ages, the Crimson Tide will now set their sights on yet another conference title, this time battling for SEC Tournament bragging rights in Nashville, Tennessee.   

Tipoff for No. 2 Alabama versus Florida or Mississippi State in the 2022-23 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals is set for Friday, March 10, at 12 p.m. CT on ESPN.   

Questions or comments? Email Blake Byler (Sports Editor) at [email protected]