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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – After a breakout senior season for the Alabama Crimson Tide, a Spain Park legend has taken her place at the top of the SEC.

Alabama senior Sarah Ashlee Barker was named to the First Team All-SEC by the league office on Tuesday, March 5.

It was Barker’s first appearance on an All-SEC team during her four-year collegiate career.

After averaging 6.9 points per game as a regular starter her junior year, she enters the SEC Tournament averaging 16.7 points per game, which ranks fifth in the conference and leads the team. She also scored a team-high 516 points.

Barker has shot 50.5% on field goals this season, which leads all Alabama players, and also leads her team in steals with 60 and is tied for the team-high in rebounds per game with 6.4.

She has scored double-figures in 24 of her 30 appearances this season, including a career-high 34 points against Kentucky on Jan. 28 and 29 points in her final regular season game against Texas A&M on March 3.

Barker also eclipsed 1,000 career points across her time at both Alabama and Georgia in the Tide’s Feb. 18 game against Auburn.

Before she began playing in the SEC, Barker was one of the most impactful players in Spain Park history.

A two-time state champion and ASWA State Player of the Year in Class 7A, she scored over 2,000 points and had over 1,000 rebounds in her career for the Jags.

She capped off her time in Hoover with a dominant senior season where she led Spain Park to a 32-4 record and its second state championship in three seasons by defeating crosstown rival Hoover in a 47-44 battle.

Barker became the first Jags player to win Miss Basketball during that season and was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year and MaxPreps Player of the year for the state of Alabama. She also took home Class 7A Tournament MVP honors during that season.

She was named Shelby County Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and earned First Team All-County honors in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Barker and Alabama will take the floor in the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Greenville, South Carolina after the Tide earned the four seed in the postseason.