Acuff Sweeps SEC Honors; Richmond and Thomas Earn SEC Honors

FAYETTEVILLE – After a historic season, Razorback Darius Acuff Jr. was voted the SEC Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, 1st team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman team by the league coaches, the conference announced today. Also earning SEC honors by the coaches were Billy Richmond III, who was named to the All-Defensive team, and Meleek Thomas, who was selected for the SEC All-Freshman team.

Acuff is just the third player to be tabbed SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year in the same season, joining Anthony Davis (Kentucky, 2012) and Brandon Miller (Alabama, 2023). He set a league record by earning eight SEC weekly awards this season, including a record seven Freshman of the Week honors – with a record five-straight – and once being named SEC Player of the Week.

Acuff is the third Razorback (fourth honor) to win SEC Player of the Year by the coaches, joining Corliss Williamson in both 1994 and 1995 as well as Bobby Portis in 2015.

Acuff is looking to join LSU’s Pete Maravich (1969-70) as the only players to lead the SEC in scoring and assists in a season. Maravich averaged an NCAA-best 44.5 points and 6.2 assists and Acuff is averaging 22.2 points and 6.4 assists. According to available records (since 1991-92), Acuff is the first player to lead the league in scoring and assists in SEC games only at 24.8 points and 6.7 assists.

In addition to leading the SEC in scoring and assists for the season and in SEC games only, the Detroit native led the league in assists/turnover ratio (3.22 overall and 3.23 in SEC games), while ranking among the conference leaders in field goal percentage (49.3% overall – 7th; and 49.2% in SEC games – 6th).

• Acuff is the only player in the NCAA to average at least 20 points and 6 assists.
• Acuff is the only player in the NCAA to average at least 16 points and have an A/TO ratio of 3.0 or better.
• Acuff has tallied 20+ points and 5+ assists 16 games this season, the most by a DI player this season. The next closest high-major players are SMU’s Boopie Miller (12) and Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson (12).
• Acuff has five games this season with at least 20 pts & 10 assists, the second most by a freshman in NCAA history behind Oklahoma’s Trae Young with 11 in 2017-18.
• According to OptaSTATS, Acuff is the only player in NCAA history to put up the following in a season: 20.0+ PPG (22.20) || ^ 5.0+ APG (6.43) || ^ 40.0+ 3P% (43.7%) || ^ 3.00+ A/TO ratio (3.22)
• Acuff is the only Razorback to have five double-doubles in points and assists in a season.
• Acuff is the only Razorback to score at least 600 points (666) and have at least 150 assists (193) in a season.

In the Arkansas record book, Acuff set several records for a season performance in SEC games only:
^ 24.82 ppg (1st)
^ 145 FG made (1st)
^ 295 FG Att (1st)
^ 113 assists (1st)
^ 422 pts in 17 games (2nd – record is 424 pts by Mason Jones in 18 games  (2020)

Richmond earns SEC All-Defensive team as he is routinely asked to guard the opponents’ top player, whether he be a point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward. He finished the season with 26 blocked shots (19 in SEC play) and 33 steals (24 in SEC play). In addition to his defense, Richmond had a breakout season on the offensive end. Thanks to five-straight game scoring 20 points, Richmond shot 57.4% (97-169) from the field in SEC games only to rank second in the league.

Richmond is the ninth Razorback to be named to the SEC All-Defensive team.

Thomas was named to the SEC All-Freshman team as he completed the best scoring tandem in the NCAA this season and one of the best freshman scoring tandems in NCAA history. He averaged 15.4 points, which ranked 18th in the SEC, and 3.9 rebounds. The Pittsburgh native also ranked 10th in the SEC in both steals (1.52) and 3-pointers made (2.26 avg.). In SEC play, Thomas was sixth in steals (1.67) and 13th in the field goal percentage (46.2%). Thanks to a strong finish to the regular season, which he was named SEC Freshman of the Week, Thomas shot 48.7% (38-of-78) from 3-point range in SEC games to set the Arkansas season record. (Note, the previous mark was by Rotnei Clark, who shot 47.4% (45-of-95) from 3-point range in SEC games in 2011.)

Acuff and Thomas are the 21st and 22nd Razorbacks to earn SEC All-Freshman honors. They are the third pair of teammates to be honored in the same season with Ronnie Brewer and Olu Famutimi (2004) and Scotty Thurman and Williamson (1993).

2025-26 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards

First Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt

Second Team
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Mark Mitchell, Missouri
Otega Oweh, Kentucky
Dailyn Swain, Texas

Third Team
Rashaun Agee, Texas A&M
Alex Condon, Florida}
Keyshawn Hall, Auburn
Aden Holloway, Alabama
Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State

All-Defensive Team
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Somto Cyril, Georgia
Felix Okpara, Tennessee
Billy Richmond III, Arkansas
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt

All-Freshman Team
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Amari Allen, Alabama
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Malachi Moreno, Kentucky
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas

Player of the Year: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Coach of the Year: Todd Golden, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Newcomer (Transfer) of the Year: Dailyn Swain, Texas
Sixth-Man of the Year: Urban Klavzar, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida

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