Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey earned a trio of SEC awards in honors announced by the league office on Tuesday. In balloting of league coaches, Humphrey was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, a unanimous first-team All-SEC performer and a unanimous All-SEC Freshman pick.
“Tasha has had a great year,” Andy Landers said. “She’s had a great year for a player in any class. It’s interesting that she’s had the type of year that she’s had as a freshman. She’s seen a lot of defense; usually, two or three people at a time. It’s been a tough proposition for her down low to be surrounded all the time by a lot of different people.”
Megan Darrah also earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team as well.
“Megan has been solid,” Landers said. “She’s contributed as much to her basketball team as about any other freshman in the league. The great compliment to Megan is that she’s done that playing out of position at the ’4′ position, which she is not. She’s done that very well.”
Humphrey, also a leading contender for National Freshman of the Year, averaged 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs during the regular season. Those numbers jumped to 19.5 points and 8.8 rebounds during Georgia’s 14 SEC games.
“I’m pleased to be selected, but there are so many things more important to me than individual honors,” Humphrey said. “I came to Georgia to win SEC Championships and NCAA Championships. It’s great to be recognized, but I would be much happier to enjoy success as a team than anything I can accomplish as an individual.”
Humphrey ranks among SEC statistical leaders in no less than five different categories — No. 3 in both scoring and field goal percentage, No. 5 in rebounding, No. 9 in blocks per game and No. 10 in free throw percentage. She was named SEC Player of the Week following her first two games at Georgia, becoming just the second player to earn that honor following her collegiate debut. Humphrey also was named SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 3 and Jan. 24, becoming only the seventh player to earn that honor three times in a single season.
Humphrey becomes the fifth Lady Bulldog chosen as SEC Freshman of the Year since the league instituted the honor in 1984, following Katrina McClain in 1984, La’Keshia Frett in 1994, Christi Thomas in 2001 and Kara Braxton in 2002.
Darrah averaged 5.7 points and 3.2 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs. Her contributions increased consistently as the season progressed. After reaching double figures just once in the first 16 games, Darrah did so on five occasions in the last 13 contests. She reached double-digits in four SEC games, scoring 12 points against Auburn, 10 at Mississippi State, 12 against South Carolina and 11 at Florida.
“It’s quite an honor,” Darrah said. “I came in wanting to do well but I couldn’t have done nearly as well without the help of my teammates. It’s been a pretty good year, and I’ll try to use this year as a stepping stone to do even more in the future.”
Humphrey and Darrah are the 17th and 18th Georgia players named All-SEC freshman in the last 18 years. Other current Lady Bulldogs to be named All-SEC Freshman include Ebony Felder in 2002, Alexis Kendrick in 2003 and Cori Chambers and Janese Hardrick in 2004.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 21-8 record, the 21st 20-win campaign during Landers’ 26 seasons in Athens. Georgia opens post-season play at the SEC Tournament this Friday in Greenville, S.C., as the No. 4 seed. On Friday at 7:00 p.m., the Lady Dogs will face the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 5 seed Ole Miss and No. 12 seed South Carolina.
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