AJ Dybantsa named Big 12 freshman of the year, 1st such from BYU since 2007

PROVO — BYU basketball's late-season slip-up didn't slow down AJ Dybantsa.

The freshman from Brockton, Mass., was named Big 12 freshman of the year by league coaches, the conference announced Monday afternoon.

Dybantsa is the seventh player in BYU history to be named freshman of the year by his conference, and the first since Jonathan Tavernari won the award in the Mountain West in 2006-07.

The nation's leading scorer who averaged 24.7 points per game, Dybantsa also earned All-Big 12 first-team and All-Freshman accolades.

He was joined in All-Big 12 honors by teammate Richie Saunders, who was named to the second team, and third-team selection Robert Wright III.

Arizona's Jaden Bradley was named Big 12 player of the year, and Kansas' Flory Biding was tabbed defensive player of the year.

Kansas' Melvin Council Jr. took conference newcomer of the year honors, Arizona's Tobe Awaka took sixth man of the year, and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson was named most improved.

Arizona's Tommy Lloyd was named coach of the year after guiding the Wildcats to their first Big 12 regular-season title with an 18-2 league record. It's the first Big 12 honor for the 2022 Associated Press national coach of the year, who has totaled 141 wins in the past five seasons — the most of any coach in NCAA Division I history.

Utah's Terrence Brown earned All-Big 12 honorable mention honors.

2026 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards

• Player of the Year: Jaden Bradley, Arizona
• Defensive Player of the Year: Flory Bidunga, Kansas
• Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
• Freshman of the Year: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
• Newcomer of the Year: Melvin Council Jr., Kansas
• Sixth Man Award: Tobe Awaka, Arizona*
• Most Improved: Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
• Coach of the Year: Tommy Lloyd, Arizona

All-Big 12 First Team

• Jaden Bradley, Arizona
• Brayden Burries, Arizona
• Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
• AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
• Emanuel Sharp, Houston
• Kingston Flemings, Houston*
• Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
• Flory Bidunga, Kansas
• Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
• JT Toppin, Texas Tech*

All-Big 12 Second Team

• Richie Saunders, BYU
• Baba Miller, Cincinnati
• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
• Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
• Darryn Peterson, Kansas

All-Big 12 Third Team

• Koa Peat, Arizona
• Cameron Carr, Baylor
• Rob Wright, BYU
• Themus Fulks, UCF
• Xavier Edmonds, TCU

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention:

• Arizona: Tobe Awaka
• Baylor: Tounde Yessoufou
• Cincinnati: Moustapha Thiam
• Colorado: Isaiah Johnson
• Houston: Joseph Tugler, Milos Uzan
• Kansas: Melvin Council Jr.
• Kansas State: PJ Haggerty
• Oklahoma State: Parsa Fallah
• TCU: David Punch
• Texas Tech: Donovan Atwell
• West Virginia: Honor Huff
• Utah: Terrence Brown

All-Defensive Team

• Jaden Bradley, Arizona
• Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
• Emanuel Sharp, Houston
• Joseph Tugler, Houston
• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
• Flory Bidunga, Kansas*
• A tie resulted in an extra position on the team

All-Freshman Team

• Brayden Burries, Arizona*
• Koa Peat, Arizona
• AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
• Kingston Flemings, Houston*
• Darryn Peterson, Kansas*

All-Newcomer Team

• Cameron Carr, Baylor
• Themus Fulks, UCF
• Baba Miller, Cincinnati
• Melvin Council Jr., Kansas
• Donovan Atwell, Texas Tech

*- unanimous selection

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