Ben Howland has been hired as head coach of Mississippi State.

Howland was fired as head coach at UCLA after the 12-13 season, which included three Final Four appearances over 10 seasons.

Mississippi State hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2009.

Bobby Portis of Arkansas has been named the 2015 SEC Player of the Year.

Joining Portis on the First Team All-SEC are Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns, LSU's Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin, Stefan Moody of Ole Miss, Josh Richardson of Tennessee, Danuel House of Texas A&M and Damian Jones of Vanderbilt.

On the Second Team All-SEC are Devin Booker, Dorian Finney-Smith, K.T. Harrell, Aaron Harrison, Jalen Jones, Michael Qualls, Levi Randolph, Craig Sword and Marcus Thornton.

Cauley-Stein won Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Towns was named Freshman of the Year.