Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of Georgia has been named the SEC Player of the Year, while Kentucky's Nerlens Noel won both Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Joining Caldwell-Pope and Noel on the First Team All-SEC are Alabama's Trevor Releford, Florida's Erik Murphy, LSU's Johnny O'Bryant, Missouri's Phil Pressey, Tennessee's Jordan McRae and Texas A&M's Elston Turner.

Billy Donovan was named Coach of the Year.

The SEC has become one college basketball's strongest conferences over the past decade as Kentucky has become a powerhouse again under John Calipari, while Billy Donovan has built a consistent winner at Florida with championships in 2006 and 2007.

But there has also been a trickle down effect.

Seven of the top 15 overall prospects in the Class of 2013 are SEC-bound: Andrew and Aaron Harrison and James Young to Kentucky, Kasey Hill and Chris Walker to Florida, Bobby Portis to Arkansas and Jarrell Martin to LSU.

Each of the five remaining top-15 prospects are considering at least one SEC school.

The SEC has 13 top-50 commits, which is more than double the amount from the ACC (6) and Big 12 (6).

Trevor Thompson has verbally committed to Virginia Tech.

Thompson is a 6-11 center on the postgraduate team of St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Wisconsin.

"I just love everything about Virginia Tech," he said. "And it's my home state."

Thompson said he also had scholarship offers from Kansas State, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Auburn and Southern California.

Rodney Hood, a highly sought-after forward, will continue his college career at Duke.

"I feel like coach (Mike Krzyzewski) and the staff can get the most out of me as a player and academically," Hood said. "I liked the teammates and felt like we have a good chance to compete for a championship."

Hood averaged 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a freshman at Mississippi State last season.