KU’s Bill Self, Frank Mason, Josh Jackson also lead AP’s All-Big 12 awards
For only the second time while winning 13 consecutive Big 12 titles, the Kansas Jayhawks have both The Associated Press conference player and coach of the year in the same season.
Kansas senior guard Frank Mason III, the league’s leading scorer at 20.5 points a game, was the unanimous pick as the league’s top player in the AP All-Big 12 voting revealed Monday. Bill Self is the coach of the year for the third consecutive season and sixth time in 12 years.
With guard Josh Jackson voted the league’s top newcomer, the Jayhawks earned a clean sweep of the individual awards. Jackson, the league’s top-scoring freshman at 16.4 points a game, was also a first-team pick.
All three also won the top awards on the All-Big 12 coaches’ team released Sunday. Self and Mason were coach and player of the year and Jackson won freshman of the year.
Baylor junior Johnathan Motley joined Mason as the only unanimous picks for AP All-Big 12 on the 18 ballots cast by a panel of journalists who regularly cover the Big 12 in the league’s five states. Joining Motley and the Kansas duo on the first team were Iowa State senior Monte Morris and Oklahoma State sophomore Jawun Evans.
Self was also the top coach in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2016, but the only other of those years when the Jayhawks also had the top player was Marcus Morris in 2011. Self got 12 votes, while Brad Underwood got four in his first season at Oklahoma State, and Baylor’s Scott Drew got the remaining two after the Bears reached No. 1 this season for the first time in school history.
2017 AP All-Big 12 team
Players listed with school, classification, height, weight, class and hometown (“u-” denotes unanimous selections):
AWARDS
Coach of the year – Bill Self, Kansas.
Player of the year – Frank Mason III, Kansas.
Newcomer of the year – Josh Jackson, Kansas.
FIRST TEAM
u-Frank Mason III, Kansas, Sr., 5-11, 190, Petersburg, Va.
u-Johnathan Motley, Baylor, Jr., 6-10, 230, Houston
Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State, So., 6-1, 185, Dallas
Josh Jackson, Kansas, Fr., 6-8, 207, Detroit
Monte Morris, Iowa State, Sr., 6-3, 175, Flint, Mich.
SECOND TEAM
Jarrett Allen, Texas, Fr., 6-11, 235, Round Rock, Texas
Deonte Burton, Iowa State, Sr., 6-4, 250, Milwaukee
Jeffrey Carroll, Oklahoma State, Jr., 6-6, 215, Rowlett, Texas
Jevon Carter, West Virginia, Jr., 6-2, 200, Maywood, Ill.
Devonte' Graham, Kansas, Jr., 6-2, 185, Raleigh, N.C.
HONORABLE MENTION
Nathan Adrian, West Virginia; Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU; Keenan Evans, Texas Tech; Phil Forte III, Oklahoma State; Wesley Iwundu, Kansas State; Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Baylor; Manu Lecomte, Baylor; Landen Lucas, Kansas; Naz Mitrou-Long, Iowa State; Zach Smith, Texas Tech.
AP All-Big 12 Voting Panel: Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman; Eric Bailey, Tulsa World; Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News; Mark Cooper, Tulsa World; Brian Davis, Austin American-Statesman; Kevin Haskin, Topeka Capital-Journal; John Helsley, The Oklahoman; Justin Jackson, The Dominion Post; Tom Keegan, Lawrence Journal-World; Kevin Lyttle, Austin American-Statesman; Randy Peterson, Des Moines Register; Soren Petro, Sports Radio 810; Krista Pirtle, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle; Mitch Vingle, Charleston Gazette-Mail; John Werner, Waco Tribune-Herald.
This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 4:59 PM with the headline "KU’s Bill Self, Frank Mason, Josh Jackson also lead AP’s All-Big 12 awards."