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Big 12 Men's Basketball Player of the Year

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	Jamal Shead, Houston

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.

Seven 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 three are playing their first Big 12 season in 2024–25: Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah.

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.

Key

Winners

Winners by school

1. ^ Left the conference in 2024.
2. Left the conference in 2011.
3. Left the conference in 2011, returned in 2024.
4. ^ Left the conference in 2012.

See also

• Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
• Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year – the predecessor to the Big 12 Conference and its players of the year (although the Big 12 does not recognize Big Eight Players of the Year as their own)

References

1. "LaFrentz takes honor along with Duncan". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. March 11, 1997. p. 24. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "LaFrentz sweeps awards". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. March 5, 1998. p. 37. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "NU's Hamilton named Big 12 Player of the Year". Kearney Hub. Kearney, Nebraska. March 4, 1999. p. 11. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Honors roll in for Fizer". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. March 14, 2000. p. 31. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Big 12 player of the year". Salina Journal. Salina, Kansas. March 8, 2001. p. 24. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Bagnato, Andrew (March 14, 2002). "Despite Gooden's accolades, Hinrich may be Jayhawk MVP". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 16. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Tucker, Doug (March 11, 2003). "Four Big 12 players are unanimous picks". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. p. 19. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Coaches tab OSU's Allen the Big 12 player of year". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. March 11, 2004. p. 12. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Rock-Chalk unanimous: Simien AP Big 12 player of the year". The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Colorado. March 10, 2005. p. 19. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "UT's Tucker the Big 12 Player of Year". Salina Journal. Salina, Kansas. March 7, 2006. p. 15. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "2006–07 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. March 5, 2007. p. 25. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Haisten, Bill (March 11, 2008). "Griffin, Dove are honored". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. p. 18. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Griffin Big 12 player of the year". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. March 9, 2009. p. 33. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Rohde, John (March 8, 2010). "Big 12 teams and awards". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. p. 24. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. Hawkins, Stephen (March 9, 2011). "Jayhawks Morris tabbed Big 12 Player of Year". Longview News-Journal. Longview, Texas. p. D4. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Hawkins, Stephen (March 6, 2012). "Kansas Jayhawks' Thomas Robinson named AP Big 12 player of the year". Longview News-Journal. Longview, Texas. p. A14. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Smart wins Tisdale Award". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. March 14, 2013. p. 26. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
18. Hawkins, Stephen (March 11, 2014). "Iowa State's Melvin Ejim AP Big 12 Player of Year". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. p. B3. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "1. Buddy Hield, Jr., G, Oklahoma". Daily Record. Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey. March 27, 2015. p. B4. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Hield repeats as Big 12 Player of the Year". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. March 8, 2016. p. 17. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
21. Auerbach, Nicole (March 7, 2017). "Kansas' Mason seems destined for greatness". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. C4. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
22. "Players to Watch – Devonte' Graham, Kansas". The News Virginian. Waynesboro, Virginia. March 15, 2018. p. 11. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
23. Hawkins, Stephen (March 13, 2019). "Culver AP Big 12 top player, Beard top coach". The Monitor. McAllen, Texas. p. B3. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Big 12 coaches: Udoka Azubuike is player of year". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. March 9, 2020. p. B3. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
25. "Cowboys freshman is MVP of Big 12". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. March 9, 2021. p. B4. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
26. Bedore, Gary (March 9, 2022). "Kansas Jayhawks' Ochai Agbaji wins another Big 12 basketball player of the year award". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, Kansas. p. B2. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
27. Hawkins, Stephen (March 8, 2023). "Wilson named AP Big 12 player of the year". Vincennes Sun-Commercial. Vincennes, Indiana. p. B7. Retrieved December 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Blue Devils take advantage of Jamal Shead's injury". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina. March 31, 2024. p. B2. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

• Awards established in 1997
• Big 12 Conference men's basketball
• NCAA Division I men's basketball conference players of the year