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When Florida lost Keyontae Johnson for the season after his scary collapse against FSU in December and subsequent hospitalization, it didn’t just lose its on-court leader. It lost the Preseason SEC Player of the Year.
Without Johnson, the Gators had to adjust their plans for the season tremendously. The team was desperate for someone to step up and take a leadership position, but it was unclear who that player may be. Now, the answer is obvious.
Tre Mann has been one of the most improved players in the country this season. After an entirely forgettable freshman year, he’s finally proving why he was a five-star recruit. His play in recent weeks hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. In The Athletic’s postseason awards for each conference, Mann was named the SEC Player of the Year.
POY: Tre Mann, 6-5 sophomore guard, Florida. This is a weird category. The most outstanding season in the league was arguably turned in by Vanderbilt sophomore guard Scotty Pippen Jr., who ranks in the top five of the conference in points (20.6), assists (4.9), steals (1.8), field goal percentage (45.0), 3-point percentage (39.0), free throw percentage (82.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). However, you can’t really give POY to a guy on a last-place team. Alabama senior forward Herb Jones is the most valuable player on a team that won the regular-season title by two games, but he’s also the Tide’s fourth-leading scorer. Two freshman guards, LSU’s Cameron Thomas and Arkansas’ Moses Moody, also merit consideration. Mann, however, led the Gators in scoring (15.0) while ranking in the top 10 of the league in assists (3.4), steals (1.6), field goal percentage (44.9), 3-point percentage (39.3), free throw percentage (83.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). More important, he led this team to a fifth-place finish and a return to the NCAA Tournament after losing its best player, senior forward Keyontae Johnson, in a traumatic fashion.
Though he hasn’t been the conference’s most productive player, arguably no one else in the SEC is as valuable to their team as Mann is to the Gators. He’s key to whatever postseason hopes Florida has, and without him in the loss to Tennessee, the offense struggled mightily.
Mann’s breakout season isn’t yet over, and UF will hope it can earn some hardware before he potentially chooses to move on to the draft at the end of the season.
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