Ben Simmons, Antonio Blakeney and Brandon Sampson to LSU. Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Briscoe and Charles Matthews to the Cats. Mailk Newman to Mississippi State. P.J. Dozier to South Carolina. Tyler Davis, D.J. Hogg and Elijah Thomas to Texas A&M.
That’s 11 of the top 50 players in the country per ESPN, and all are headed to SEC schools. And get this – Florida, a place that traditionally gets its share of McDonald’s All-Americans – isn’t one of those schools.
It’s no secret that in 2013 SEC commish Mike Slive told his athletic directors he wanted to upgrade the conference’s basketball image.