FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas' star players earned All-SEC recognition Tuesday.
Senior guard JD Notae and sophomore forward Jaylin Williams were first-team All-SEC selections by the league's coaches, and Williams landed on the All-Defensive Team.
It is the first time Arkansas has had two players on the coaches’ All-SEC first team since Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman in 1995. Williamson and Thurman were also on the first team in 1994, and former Razorbacks Todd Day and Lee Mayberry were on the first team in 1992 — Arkansas' first year in the league.
Notae was also one of three unanimous first-team selections by The Associated Press, and Williams was named to the second team.
Notae, the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2020-21, took his play to another level as Arkansas’ lead guard this season. He averaged 18.9 points on 41.4% shooting and 3.6 assists in the regular season and 19.7 points and 4.1 assists in conference games.
His 19.7 points per game in league play were the second most by a Razorback in at least the last 19 seasons, trailing only Mason Jones (23.6) in 2019-20.
Notae, who missed the SEC opener at Mississippi State on Dec. 29 because of an illness, scored at least 10 points in each game he played and 20-plus points 11 times. He scored a season-high 31 points in a loss at Texas A&M, and 30 in victories over Mercer and Kentucky.
Notae also had 28 points against Penn and in Arkansas’ home win over then-No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 8.
“He is a great scorer,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He can do it at the rim, he can do it from three, he can do it on his own, he can do it coming off screens, he can do it in transition. He can catch and stick. A lot of guys need a bounce. He can do it off the stick.
“He has a great shot-fake game. He's handsy defensively. He's a great player. He's a first-team all-leaguer."
He led the Razorbacks in minutes played (1,006), three-pointers made (67), assists (109) and steals (65) during the regular season. Notae was also third on the team with 20 blocked shots and fourth with 133 rebounds.
In Arkansas’ 8 road games, Notae averaged 21.1 points on 43.5% shooting and 44.4% from three-point range, up from 18.9 points and 26.8% beyond the arc in Bud Walton Arena.
“He doesn't flinch, man. He's steady,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “He is the focal point, obviously we know that, of other teams' scouting reports. He's a focal point defensively. But he really is so tough-minded that it's never really concerned me at all, even at the beginning of the year, how he would react.
“I think he likes playing in big moments. He has great, great, great internal confidence.”
According to KenPom data, Notae ranked in the top 20 in SEC games in assist rate (9th), steal percentage (17th) and block percentage (20th). He had 5-plus assists in 6 conference games, 9 multi-steal performances and a career-high 4 blocks against Auburn.
Williams, a 6-10 sophomore from Fort Smith, made his star turn as Arkansas surged in the final two months of the schedule. He averaged 6.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the team’s first 13 games.
In the last 18 of the regular season, his numbers spiked to 13.7 points and 10.6 rebounds, and the Razorbacks went 14-4. He also added 1.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per outing.
“I just think this evolution of him becoming overly confident in a lot of different areas has really expanded his game,” Musselman said. “His game just keeps evolving in so many different ways.”
Williams reached double figures in scoring twice through Jan. 4, but did so in each of the next 17 games. He scored a career-high 22 points at Alabama, and 19 in home wins against South Carolina and LSU. He recorded 12 double-doubles, including 7 in a row between Feb. 8 and March 2.
Defensively, he led Arkansas with 48 charges taken, 36 blocks and was second with 43 steals. When he was the nearest Razorbacks defender to a shot, opponents made 37.2% of two-point attempts this season, including 36.4% in SEC play.
“He’s been phenomenal. I think it’s his IQ,” Musselman said. “He knows who he’s guarding. He studies his opponent and then if he’s guarding someone who’s quicker than him, he gives them a half step.
“If he’s guarding someone he’s quicker than, he can crowd him.”