Tennessee center Jonas Aidoo named Second Team All-SEC, All-Defensive team
Second Team All-SEC and All-Defensive Team was added to Jonas Aidoo’s list of accomplishments on Monday as the breakout junior season for Tennessee’s 6-foot-11 center continues.
Aidoo this season is averaging career-highs in scoring (12.1 points per game), rebounding (7.6), defensive rebounds (4.7), offensive rebounds (2.9), blocks (1.9), steals (0.7) and minutes (25.4). He was fourth in the SEC in rebounding and third in the league in blocked shots.
Dalton Knecht was named SEC Player of the Year, Zakai Zeigler won Defensive Player of the Year and Knecht and Zeigler were both named First Team All-SEC.
Aidoo, Tennessee’s second leading scorer this season, was the lone Second Team pick for the Vols and was joined by Zeigler on the All-Defensive Team.
Rick Barnes in November: ‘Jonas is gonna play his way this year to being one of the best post guys in the country’
Aidoo scored a career-high 29 points in a December win over Georgia Southern and has recorded eight double-doubles.
He had 18 points and 14 rebounds against Texas A&M in Knoxville, 23 and 12 at Arkansas, 11 and 11 at Kentucky, 19 and 10 at home against Florida, 10 and 15 at Georgia, 24 and 10 against Ole Miss, 29 and 11 against Georgia Southern and 14 and 11 against Syracuse.
Aidoo had 13 points and four rebounds in Tennessee’s 100-92 loss at North Carolina in November, leading to Rick Barnes emphasizing after the game just how high Aidoo’s ceiling could be.
“I think what’s come out of this for us is I think Jonas Aidoo finally believes what I’ve told him,” Barnes said at the time. “He’s got a chance to be … a factor once we can throw that ball inside like we did, and just going open up more for those perimeter guys.”
“Jonas, we’re going to establish Jonas,” Barnes added later. “And I truly think Jonas is gonna play his way this year to being one of the best post guys in the country.”
Up Next: SEC Tournament, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN
Aidoo last season started nine times in 35 games, averaging 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, shooting 50.7% from the field. He appeared in 19 games as a freshman in 2021-22, averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
He was a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle, signing with Tennessee as the No. 40 overall player in the On3 Industry Ranking. He was ranked No. 7 among centers and No. 1 overall in the state of North Carolina.
Knecht averaged 21.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the season while shooting 47.4% from the field and 40.5% from the 3-point line.
Zeigler, less than a year removed from suffering a torn ACL, had a career year, averaging 11.6 points, 6.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds while playing all 31 games this season. He led the SEC in assists (185), was third in assist-turnover ratio (2.8) and was fourth in steals (58) while shooting 40.4% from the field and 35.3% from the 3-point line.
