The honors just keep rolling in for Tennessee’s star forward.
Junior forward Grant Williams was selected as a First-Team All-American by the Associated Press on Tuesday, becoming the first Vol since Dale Ellis in 1983 to earn first-team honors from the AP. The 6-foot-7 junior was joined by Duke’s Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, Murray State’s Ja Morant, and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston on the first team. Williams is the only SEC player on the first or second teams, but Kentucky’s PJ Washington was named a third-team selection. Williams received the second-most votes and second-most overall points in the voting, trailing only Zion Williamson.
Not only was Williams named a first-team choice, but his teammate earned an honorable mention for the All-American list. Senior wing Admiral Schofield was one of several honorable mentions for the All-American teams.
Williams has already been named a First-Team All-American by Sporting News, the US Basketball Writers Association, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He joins Dale Ellis, Ernie Grunfeld, Bernard King, and A.W. Davis as the only Vols to be named to multiple First-Team All-American lists in a single season.
This season will go down as one to remember for Williams and Vol fans. Not only did Williams earn First-Team All-American honors, but he was named the SEC Player of the Year for the second-straight season, becoming only the third Vol ever to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He was an unanimous First-Team All-SEC selection by the AP and was also a first-team all-conference selection by SEC coaches.
Williams averaged 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.49 blocks per game in his 37 games for Tennessee this season. He shot 56.5 percent overall and finished with the second-most free throws made (213) and free throws attempted (260) in a single season in UT history.
As for Schofield, his final year as a Vol was certainly memorable as well.
Schofield was selected as First-Team All-SEC performer by the conference coaches and was named a second-team choice by the AP. He finished his senior season averaging 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 47.4 percent overall and a career-high 41.8 percent from three.
Both Williams and Schofield helped this year’s Tennessee team tie the program record for most wins in a season (31) and reached the program’s first Sweet Sixteen since 2014.
