Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier is a co-SEC Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday afternoon.
This is the second time that Lanier has taken home the league’s POTW award after also earning the honor on Nov. 25 after a terrific showing in the Baha Mar Hoops Tournament.
Monday’s award comes after two more big scoring games from the Nashville native.
Lanier scored 24 points in the Vols’ New Year’s Eve win over Norfolk State and put up a season-high 29 points on 50% shooting from the floor against Arkansas in the Vols’ season-opener last Saturday in Knoxville.
In the two games against the Spartans and the Razorbacks, Lanier tallied 53 points on 18-of-38 shooting from the floor, 11-of-25 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Lanier also added in four rebounds, two assists, one block, two steals, and only one turnover in those two games.
Lanier shares the SEC Player of the Week title on Monday with Kentucky’s Kody Brea, who recorded 36 points in the Wildcats’ last two games.
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The former North Florida guard has brought Tennessee some much-needed firepower out of the portal. Through 14 games this season, Lanier is averaging 20.3 points per game with seven games of 22 or more points on the season. In comparison, former Tennessee superstar Dalton Knecht averaged 21.7 points per game in 36 contests with the Vols last season.
Lanier spoke with the media on Monday morning and said that he’s feeling good to go for Tuesday’s Top 10 tilt in Gainesville. The fifth-year senior didn’t fade away under the spotlight of SEC competition and instead put together his best scoring game in a Tennessee uniform to date. That’s a good sign for Rick Barnes’ squad because they’ll need that version of Lanier on Tuesday.
No. 8 Florida (13-1, 0-1 SEC) will host No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) on Tuesday night in Gainesville for an SEC rivalry clash at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Stay locked into RTI for live coverage of the game on Tuesday night.
This is the second straight week that a Volunteer has taken home the SEC Player of the Week prize after Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler earned the title on Dec. 30.
Jan. 6 | SEC Men’s Basketball Players of the Week
PLAYER
Koby Brea, @KentuckyMBB
Chaz Lanier, @Vol_HoopsFRESHMAN
Labaron Philon, @AlabamaMBBhttps://t.co/LVNcdNl7nd | #SECMBB pic.twitter.com/yKjeuZFZXA— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) January 6, 2025
