Arkansas Razorbacks Moses Moody, JD Notae earn SEC postseason honors

College Students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95. Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to nchavanelle@yahoo.com.

Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS

A pair of Razorbacks picked up postseason SEC honors from the league's coaches and the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Moses Moody was named the SEC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year by the coaches and AP, respectively, while also a consensus first-team All-SEC pick and an SEC All-Freshman Team pick by the coaches.

The coaches also named JD Notae the SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

The conference’s top awards both went to regular-season champion Alabama, as Nate Oats and Herbert Jones were named SEC Coach and Player of the Year, respectively.

Although the SEC didn't reveal vote totals, the AP said Jones received five of 14 votes for Player of the Year, which was one more than Moody, and Eric Musselman received two votes for Coach of the Year.

Moody has put together one of the best freshman seasons in UA history, averaging a team-high 17.5 points on 44.1 percent shooting - including an efficient 38.6 percent from beyond the arc - while also contributing 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals. He was the team’s best free throw shooter, too, making 82.8 percent of his team-high 151 attempts.

The only player to average more points as a freshman for the Razorbacks was George Kok, who scored 18.7 points per game in 1944-45 when freshmen were briefly eligible during World War II. Moody’s 5.7 rebounds per game are tied with Joe Johnson for the sixth-most by a freshman in UA history, despite being a 6-foot-6 guard.

Moody ended the season with back-to-back 28-point performances at South Carolina and against Texas A&M, matching his career high and likely helping him edge LSU’s Cameron Thomas for Freshman and Newcomer of the Year.

He is the second Arkansas player to be named SEC Freshman of the Year by the coaches, joining Patrick Beverley in 2007, and the third to be named SEC Newcomer of the Year by the AP, joining Joe Johnson in 2000 and Beverley.

The Razorbacks have also had a first-team All-SEC selection four years in a row now. Like Moody, Mason Jones and Daniel Gafford were consensus first-team picks in 2020 and 2019, respectively. In 2018, Jaylen Barford was chosen by the coaches and Daryl Macon was chosen by the AP.

Despite starting only one game, Notae is the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer at 12.9 points per game. He also averaged 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 22.3 minutes, plus had a team-high 37 steals.

The only other Arkansas player to be named SEC Sixth Man of the Year was Eric Ferguson in 2006.

As a team, Arkansas enters the SEC Tournament with a 21-5 overall record and 13-4 mark in conference play. It is the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of Missouri-Georgia at 6 p.m. CT Friday on the SEC Network.

SEC Postseason Awards - Coaches

First Team All-SEC
Herbert Jones, Alabama
John Petty Jr., Alabama
Moses Moody, Arkansas
Tre Mann, Florida
Cameron Thomas, LSU
Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss
Dru Smith, Missouri
Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt

Second Team All-SEC
Jaden Shackelford, Alabama
Colin Castleton, Florida
Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia
Javonte Smart, LSU
Trendon Watford, LSU
D.J. Stewart Jr., Mississippi State
Jeremiah Tilmon, Missouri
AJ Lawson, South Carolina

All-Freshman Team
Joshua Primo, Alabama
Moses Moody, Arkansas
Sharife Cooper, Auburn
KD Johnson, Georgia
Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky
Cameron Thomas, LSU
Keon Johnson, Tennessee
Jaden Springer, Tennessee

All-Defensive Team
Herbert Jones, Alabama
Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky
Abdul Ado, Mississippi State
Dru Smith, Missouri
Yves Pons, Tennessee

Coach of the Year: Nate Oats, Alabama

Player of the Year: Herbert Jones, Alabama

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Dylan Disu, Vanderbilt

Freshman of the Year: Moses Moody, Arkansas

Sixth-Man of the Year: JD Notae, Arkansas

Defensive Player of the Year: Herbert Jones, Alabama