Four Florida Gators earn SEC year-end honors

Four members of the 2011-12 Florida Gators basketball team earned year-end recognition on Tuesday for their efforts over the past season as voted on by the 12 Southeastern Conference coaches.

Guards freshman Bradley Beal and junior Kenny Boynton were named to the All-SEC First Team with Beal also being selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Senior point guard Erving Walker was placed on the All-SEC Second Team, and sophomore center Patric Young earned recognition for his activities both on the court and in the classroom (3.37 GPA in telecommunications) with the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

An All-SEC Second Team member in both his sophomore and junior campaigns, Walker has now received the honor three seasons in a row. Beal becomes the only men’s basketball player in school history to earn All-SEC First Team and SEC All-Freshman honors in the same season, and Boynton was also named to the unit for the first time in his career after being placed on the second team as a sophomore.

The Gators have been honored with having a SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in uniform in four of the last seven seasons as Young joins Lee Humphrey (2006, 2007) and Ray Shipman (2010) on that list.

Those four Florida players are not the only ones to receive special recognition from the SEC this week as sophomore forward Will Yeguete was placed on the 2012 SEC Community Service Team on Monday.