A day after Kansas won the Big 12 regular season conference title outright on Saturday with a 70-66 victory against Missouri, the Jayhawks brought some more hardware of the individual variety to Lawrence.
On Sunday, junior forward Marcus Morris and coach Bill Self were recognized as being the best at their respective positions. Morris was named Big 12 Player of the Year along with being named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Self was named Big 12 Coach of the Year. They weren’t the only two to receive recognition. Morris’ twin Markieff was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. Seniors Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar received All-Big 12 Honorable Mentions and Morningstar was selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.
“I am very proud any time our players get named to a postseason award,” Self said in a news release. “I am especially proud of Marcus for being consistent this year and being the premier performer in our league. It certainly is a compliment to him but also to his teammates to allow him to do what he does. Markieff, Brady and Tyrel also very deserve their recognition as well.”
Morris is the first Jayhawk to win Big 12 Player of the Year since the 2004-2005 season. He joins four other Jayhawks who were named Big 12 Player of the Year: Raef LaFrentz (1996, 1997), Drew Gooden (2002), Nick Collison (2003), Simien (2005).
Marcus said in a news release that he was happy to receive the award, but he gives all the credit to his teammates.
“Without them there is no way I would have been selected,” Marcus said. “We’ve had a great season so far but we still have a lot of work to do heading into the Big 12 tournament and the NCAAs.”
During the season, Marcus averaged 17.3 points per game (fifth in the Big 12) and seven rebounds per game (11th in the Big 12). His 59.7 shooting percentage is 10th in the nation and second in the Big 12 behind Markieff’s 59.8 percent. Markieff led the Big 12 with 8.3 rebounds per game and scored 13.5 points per game.
In conference play, Marcus scored 18.8 points per game and grabbed 7.6 assists. His shooting percentage was also 60.6 percent. Marcus’ All-Big 12 First Team selection is the 20th time a Jayhawk has earned the distinction. Kansas has also had a First Team selection in 13 of the 15 seasons the Big 12 has existed.
For Self, this is his third time being named Coach of the Year. He also earned the honor in 2005 and 2009.
“There are a lot of coaches that have done a great job in our league this season,” Self said. “The primary reason for any postseason award is because you have good players who have performed at a high level.”