KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas senior guard Ochai Agbaji is the unanimous pick as The Associated Press Big 12 Player of the Year after the league’s leading scorer helped the sixth-ranked Jayhawks share the regular-season conference title with third-ranked Baylor.
Agbaji — a Kansas City, Missouri, native and Oak Park graduate — led the Big 12 in scoring at 19.8 points a game and shot nearly 48% from the field.
The other players selected for the first team in voting by a panel of select media members were Baylor guard James Akinjo, Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington, Kansas State sophomore guard Nijel Pack and Texas Tech forward Bryson Williams.
First-year Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams was picked as the league’s top coach in a close vote. Adams got eight votes, one more than Baylor coach Scott Drew.
Adams was promoted to head coach at his alma mater after Chris Beard left for Texas. The 14th-ranked Red Raiders (23-7), who went from unranked the first five polls to as high as ninth, finished 18-0 at home.
Agbaji’s teammate with the Jayhawks, junior guard Christian Braun, was a second-team selection. The other second-team picks were Baylor junior Adam Flagler, Texas senior Timmy Allen, TCU sophomore Mike Miles Jr., and West Virginia senior Taz Sherman.
All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Team
Coach of the year — Mark Adams, Texas Tech
Player of the year — Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
Newcomer of the year — Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State
First team
u-Ochai Agbaji, Kansas; James Akinjo, Baylor; Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State; Nijel Pack, Kansas State; Bryson Williams, Texas Tech.
Second team
Timmy Allen, Texas; Christian Braun, Kansas; Adam Flagler, Baylor; Mike Miles Jr., TCU; Taz Sherman, West Virginia.
