Georgia men’s basketball’s Anthony Edwards was named SEC Freshman of the Year on Tuesday. Other decorations from the conference include SEC Newcomer of the Year, second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman.

Edwards is the first player in Georgia history to be voted SEC Freshman of the Year since the award made its debut in 2001. He was chosen for these awards by league coaches and representatives of the Associated Press.

Edwards is the Bulldogs’ third AP SEC Newcomer of the Year winner in program history. Jumaine Jones won the honor in 1998 as a freshman and Jarvis Hayes was given the award in 2002 following his redshirt sophomore season.

In what is likely his first and only year at the collegiate level, Edwards is Georgia’s 64th All-SEC award winner and the program’s 12th Freshman All-SEC pick. Edwards has chipped away at the Bulldogs’ lack of basketball notoriety with his standout freshman year.

Prior to the SEC tournament in Nashville, Edwards holds season averages of 19.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He is Georgia’s leading scorer by 6.9 points per game and is second on the team in assists to fellow freshman Sahvir Wheeler, who averages 4.4 per game.

Georgia finished the regular season at 15-16. With Edwards at the helm, the Bulldogs are 5-13 in conference play and sit atop of only Vanderbilt at 3-15. Georgia has improved ever so slightly after finishing 2-16 in the conference last season.

Edwards was named SEC Freshman of the Week four times this season, which stands as a school record. He is one of the five finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. Recent winners of this award include RJ Barrett (2019), Carsen Edwards (2018) and Malik Monk (2017).

The Georgia freshman is five points shy of matching Allan Houston from Tennessee for the 10th most points ever from an SEC player’s first-year. Edwards is fifth in 3-point shots per game with 2.3, 10th in rebounds (4.6) and 19th in playing time (32.8 minutes).

Edwards, a potential top-5 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, will look to ensure his title as the best freshman in the SEC as the conference tournament ramps up in Nashville, Tennessee. Georgia will take on Ole Miss in the SEC tournament’s first round of action on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena.

Printed with permission from The Red & Black independent student media organization based in Athens, Georgia; redandblack.com/sports