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

PROVO (KSL.com) — 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