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.

Darius Thompson, a 6-foot-4 point guard out of Blackman (TN) High School, verbally committed to Vanderbilt, choosing the Commodores over Tennessee, N.C. State and Purdue, among others.

“When I went down there to visit and talked to the academic people, I really liked the school,” Thompson said. “Then, when I met with coach (Kevin) Stallings — he’s a great coach — he’s going to push me to the best I can be and get the best out of me.

“Then their players were really cool players. I liked the situation there.”

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).

Damian Jones has committed to Vanderbilt.

Jones plays AAU for the Team Texas Titans and is teammates with Julius Randle and Matt Jones.

Jones is ranked as the No. 108 player in the 2013 class as a 6-foot-9 big.

Nick King has committed to play for Memphis.

King is a 6'6" wing from East High School in Memphis.

King also considered Texas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt and is a top-30 recruit.

Nick King will announce his college decision at 10 a.m. Monday, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.

King is down to Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Texas.

The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 21 points and almost 10 rebounds as a junior for Memphis East High.

Nick King has scheduled official visits to Vanderbilt on Sept. 15 and Memphis on Oct. 12.

The 6-foot-6, 210-pound King is a consensus top-30 prospect in the class of 2013.

King is also considering Tennessee and Texas.

Austin Nichols, a top-10 recruit in the class of 2013, trimmed his list to six schools: Memphis, Auburn, Tennessee, Virginia, Duke, and Vanderbilt.

"I talked with my parents a few times and I guess today was the day," Nichols said. "We were a little late cutting the list, but we had to get it done and we were confident in each school."

Nichols intends to utilize his allotted five official visits on Virginia, Auburn, Tennessee, Duke and Vanderbilt after unofficially visiting Memphis last week.