Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Big 12 Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Phillips 66 |
| History | |
| First award | 1997 |
| Most recent | Jaden Bradley, Arizona |
The Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Big 12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1996–97 season, the first year of conference competition but three years after the conference's official formation. It is selected by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players. Kansas has had the most individual winners of the award with 12.
Only two players have won the award multiple times: Raef LaFrentz of Kansas, who won the first two awards in 1997 and 1998, and Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, who won the award in 2015 and 2016.
Four freshmen have won the award: Kevin Durant of Texas, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State, and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.
Nine current Big 12 institutions have yet to have a winner. Baylor is the only continuously present charter member without a winner. Another charter member, Colorado, left for the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 but returned in 2024. Two others joined in the 2010s: TCU in 2011 and West Virginia in 2012. The other six made their Big 12 debuts in the 2020s: BYU, Cincinnati, and UCF in 2023–24, with Arizona State and Utah in 2024–25.
In addition, two former Big 12 institutions never had a winner of the award during their tenure in the Big 12: Missouri and Texas A&M.
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national player of the year award: Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big 12 Player of the Year award at that point |
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