Kentucky's Immanuel Quickley Takes Home SEC POY While John Calipari Gets COY Honors

Kentucky basketball is reaping the rewards of its success, as two individuals received honors from the SEC. The sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley was honored with the conference's Player of the Year Award, while John Calipari took home the title of SEC Coach of the Year.

The 2019-20 NCAA basketball season has seen some surprising teams like Dayton and San Diego State rise to the top, but Kentucky has been one of the few perennially successful programs to maintain its dominant form throughout most of the year (barring its shocking loss to Evansville). That's largely thanks to the work of Calipari and the strides Quickley has taken throughout the year.

The awards are voted for by fellow coaches, and the results shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Calipari, en route to the hardware, has led Kentucky to a 15-3 record in conference play, setting the team up as the top seed in the SEC tournament.

None of Calipari's success would have been possible without Quickley, however, who's averaging 16.1 points per game this year. He's also, as of March 10, the third-best free throw shooter in the country, converting on a sterling 92.3% of his attempts from the charity stripe. Even more impressive, the sophomore is draining 42.8% of his 3-point opportunities, knocking down 2.1 per game.

Quickley is one of the best comeback stories in college hoops right now, and the award is just the icing on the cake. From struggling to find meaningful minutes as a freshman in a jam-packed Wildcats rotation, Quickley has risen to stardom in Year 2 under Calipari's watch.