Big 12 Basketball awards for 2025-26 season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2025-26 Big 12 basketball season wrapped as the league stood among the strongest in the country at season’s end.

To highlight the past season, the Big 12 dished out some individual awards based on votes from the league’s 16 coaches.

 

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Arizona won the regular season championship, and the Wildcats were well-represented in the awards.

Wildcat guard Jaden Bradley won the Big 12 Player of the Year.

Arizona guard Jaden Bradley wins 2025-26 Big 12 Basketball Player of the Year

Bradley finished with 13.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds this season. The Wildcats navigated the Big 12 with a 16-2 record, winning the regular-season title by 2 games.

Last year’s Big 12 Player of the Year winner, JT Toppin from Texas Tech, looked to be on a pace to repeat as the league’s top player, but he suffered a season-ending ACL injury on February 17.

BYU star AJ Dybantsa was the league’s leading scorer, but BYU finished in 10th place during the regular season. Dybantsa earned the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year award over the likes of Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Arizona’s Brayden Burries and Koa Peat, and Kansas standout Darryn Peterson.

Arizona also produced the Big 12’s Coach of the Year as Tommy Lloyd took home the honor, leading the Wildcats to their first Big 12 championship since joining the league last year.

Then, Tobe Awaka rounded out the awards, winning the Sixth Man of the Year.

Kansas produces two award winners

The heart and soul of this year’s Kansas team, Melvin Council, won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Council, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Council brought toughness to a Kansas squad that finished third in the league standings.

Also bringing toughness to the Jayhawks was center Flory Bidunga, who earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Bidunga averaged 2.7 blocks per game this season.

Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson earns “Most Improved Player”

The Big 12’s “Most Player Player” went to Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson. The sophomore guard took on a full-time role as the starting point guard for the Red Raiders. Last year, he was coming off the bench.

Anderson posted career-high averages of 19.2 points, 7.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals while shooting 43% from three-point range.

Iowa State senior guard Tamin Lipsey is wrapping up his fourth and final season for the Cyclones. He earned the Big 12’s “Scholar-Athlete of the Year.”

The 2026 Big 12 Basketball Tournament tips off on Tuesday, March 10, and runs through Saturday, March 14, at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Big 12 Basketball Awards for 2025-26 season

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

All-Big 12 First Team

*=Unanimous selection

• Jaden Bradley, Arizona
• Brayden Burries, Arizona
• Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
• AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
• Emmanuel 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
• Emmanuel Sharp, Houston
• Joseph Tugler, Houston
• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
• Flory Bidunga, Kansa

All-Freshman Team

All unanimous selections

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

All-Newcomer Team

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

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYUathletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

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