🏀 Kansas Trio Named Preseason All-Big 12
IRVING, Texas – Kansas men’s basketball senior Hunter Dickinson, redshirt-junior Dajuan Harris Jr. and graduate Kevin McCullar Jr. have been named to the 2023-24 Preseason All-Big 12 Team as voted on by the league coaches, the conference announced Thursday.
Dickinson is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, becoming the first player in conference history to earn both honors in the same season. Dickinson is joined on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team by Harris, while McCullar is an honorable mention honoree.
A fourth-year transfer from Michigan, Dickinson earned many national and conference honors with the Wolverines, including Consensus All-America Second Team in 2021. The 7-foot-2 Alexandria, Virginia, center was a three-time All-Big Ten selection with first team honors in 2022 and 2023. Dickinson averaged 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds for his career and led Michigan in points and rebounds each of the last three seasons. Dickinson has compiled career statistics of 1,617 points, 787 rebounds and 149 blocked shots entering 2023-24. A general studies major, Dickinson was named to the All-Big Ten Academic Team in 2022 and 2023.
“I appreciate the coaches recognizing myself, Dajuan and Kevin,” Dickinson said. “It says a lot about the potential of our team. Now we need to go prove it.”
The 2023 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Harris has started each of the last two seasons, including on the 2022 NCAA National Championship team. The Columbia, Missouri guard has led the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio each of the last two seasons. In 2022 and 2023, Harris was named All-Big Honorable Mention and to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Last season, Harris also led the Big 12 with 6.2 assists per game as he averaged 8.9 points and 2.2 steals per contest. For his career, Harris has played in 106 games with 77 starts at KU and ranks 14th on the KU career assists list with 455 and is tied for 15th on the career steals list with 165. Additionally, Harris is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection and was nominated for College Sports Communicators Academic All-America team in 2023. He graduated from Kansas in May 2023 with a liberal arts and science degree.
McCullar is appearing on the preseason team for the second straight season as he was also an honorable mention selection in 2022-23. The San Antonio guard is a three-time All-Big 12 selection, with two coming while at Texas Tech and an all-conference third-team honoree while at Kansas last season. McCullar has been a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Last year, McCullar averaged 10.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and was third in the Big 12 with seven double-doubles. A 2023 KU graduate, McCullar enters 2023-24 with 1,040 points, 589 rebounds, 231 assists and 178 steals for his career.
Historically, Dickinson is the 11th Jayhawk to collect the preseason player of the year award and the fifth to earn preseason newcomer. Kansas has had at least one player on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team in all but two of the 28 seasons the conference has existed, since 1996-97. Dickinson and Harris are the 39th and 40th Jayhawks to be listed on the preseason all-league first team.
Kansas is coming off a 28-8 season in which it won the Big 12 regular-season title with a 13-5 league record. It was KU’s NCAA-record 63rd conference regular-season title and 16th under head coach Bill Self in his 20 seasons at Kansas.
2023-24 Big 12 Preseason Honors
Preseason Player of the Year – HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS, C, Sr.
Preseason Newcomer of the Year – HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS, C, Sr.
Preseason Freshman of the Year – Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor, F
Preseason All-Big 12 Team (listed alphabetically by school)
Name, School, Pos., Cl.
L.J. Cryer, Houston, G, Sr.
HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS, C, Sr.
DAJUAN HARRIS JR., KANSAS, G, RS-Jr.
Emanuel Miller, TCU, F, Sr.
Max Abmas, Texas, G, Gr.
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school): Jalen Bridges (Baylor), RayJ Dennis (Baylor), Ja’Kobe Walter (Baylor), Jamal Shead (Houston), KEVIN MCCULLAR JR. (KANSAS), Arthur Kaluma (Kansas State), Tylor Perr (Kansas State), Dylan Disu (Texas), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), Dillon Mitchell (Texas), Jesse Edwards (West Virginia).
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
Kansas’ Preseason Big 12 Player of the Years – Jacque Vaughn (1996-97), Raef LaFrentz (1997-98), Wayne Simien (2004-05), Brandon Rush and Julian Wright (2006-07), Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins (2009-10), Devonte’ Graham (2017-18), Udoka Azubuike (2019-20), Remy Martin (2021-22), Hunter Dickinson (2023-24).
Kansas’ Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Years – Mario Little (2008-09), Tarik Black (2013-14), Malik Newman (2017-18), Dedric Lawson (2018-19), Hunter Dickinson (2023-24).
