Following two consecutive lights-out shooting performances and his most complete game of the season in Tennessee’s victory over Tennessee Tech, freshman guard Jaden Springer has been named SEC Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday.
In UT’s wins over Appalachian State and Tennessee Tech last week, Springer averaged 16.5 points per game while shooting an impressive 14-of-18 (.778) from the field.
On Tuesday against App State, Springer scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in just 22 minutes of action off the bench.
He followed that performance with a season-high 21-point outing Friday against the Golden Eagles, knocking down eight of his 10 attempts from the field, pulling in a season-high six rebounds and dishing out a season- and game-high six assists.
Springer finished both contests with no turnovers, upping his assist/turnover ratio to 2.33 on the year—an incredible mark for a true freshman with a high usage rate in his first action at the collegiate level.
Through four games, Springer—a Freshman All-America candidate—is averaging 12.5 points per game, while shooting a highly efficient .655 from the field (19-29) and .800 from 3-point range (4-5).
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native is the first Tennessee player to claim an SEC Freshman of the Week honor since current Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams did so on Feb. 13, 2017.
Tennessee players have now garnered 16 SEC weekly awards during the tenure of sixth-year head coach Rick Barnes.
Springer and the eighth-ranked Vols return to action Monday for a home bout with Saint Joseph’s at 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
