By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Editor
Kansas senior guard Ochai Agbaji is the unanimous choice as the Associated Press Big 12 Player of the Year after the league’s leading scorer helped the sixth-placed Jayhawks share the conference title of the regular season with No. 3 Baylor.
The Jayhawks and defending national champion Bears are the only teams to have a player in the AP first and second teams announced Tuesday, as determined by voting by a panel of 17 sportswriters and sports commentators who regularly cover the league.
Agbaji, the only unanimous first-team pick, is averaging 19.8 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field and ranks second in the league with 2.9 to 3 points per game. He is joined on the first team by Baylor guard James Akinjo, Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington, Kansas State sophomore guard Nijel Pack and Texas Tech forward Bryson Williams. .
Akinjo, Brockington and Williams are all seniors in their first Big 12 seasons since transferring to their current schools. Brockington, third in the Big 12 with 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, is the AP Newcomer of the Year, edging out the other two.
Texas Tech’s Mark Adams was chosen Coach of the Year in a close vote. Adams got eight votes, one more than Baylor coach Scott Drew, who won each of the previous two seasons. Iowa State freshman coach TJ Otzelberger got the other two votes after the Cyclones went from two wins last year to 20. Adams was promoted
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 in the top five polls to ninth, finished 18-0 at home. Second team picks
The second-team picks are Kansas junior Christian Braun, Baylor junior Adam Flagler, Texas senior Timmy Allen, TCU sophomore Mike Miles Jr. and West Virginia senior Taz Sherman. The 2022 AP All-Big 12 team, with players listed with school, height, weight, class and hometown (“u-” indicates unanimous selections):
FIRST TEAM
u-Ochai Agbaji, Kansas, 6-5, 215, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.
James Akinjo, Baylor, 6-1, 190, Sr., Oakland, Calif.
Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State, 6-4, 196, Sr., Philadelphia.
Nijel Pack, Kansas State, 6-0, 180, So., Indianapolis.
Bryson Williams, Texas Tech, 6-8, 240, Sr., Fresno, Calif.
SECOND TEAM
Timmy Allen, Texas, 6-6, 210, Sr., Mesa, Arizona
Christian Braun, Kansas, 6-7, 218, Jr., Burlington, Kansas.
Adam Flagler, Baylor, 6-3, 185, Jr., Duluth, Ga.
Mike Miles Jr., TCU, 6-2, 195, So., Dallas.
Taz Sherman, West Virginia, 6-4, 190, Sr., Missouri City, Texas. Coach of the Year – Mark Adams, Texas Tech.
Player of the Year – Ochai Agbaji, Kansas.
Newcomer of the Year Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State
AP All-Big 12 Voting Panel: Eric Bailey, Tulsa World; Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News; Jesse Crittenden, Norman transcription; Brian Davis, American statesman from Austin; Drew Davison, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Arne Green, Salina Journal; Justin Jackson, The Dominion Post; Eric Kelly, KWKT-TV, Waco, TX; Eli Lederman, Tulsa World; Kansas City star Jesse Newell; Randy Peterson, Des Moines Register; Ryan Pritt, Charleston Gazette-Mail; Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle; Carlos Silva Jr., Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Matt Tait, Lawrence Journal-World; Jacob Unruh, Oklahoma; John Werner, Waco Tribune-Herald.
