Trio of Jayhawks on 2018-19 All-Big 12 teams
IRVING, Texas – Highlighted by Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Dedric Lawson, Kansas is well represented on the men’s basketball 2018-19 All-Big 12 Team selected by the conference coaches, the league announced Sunday.
Lawson was selected the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and a unanimous selection for All-Big 12 First Team. The redshirt-junior forward was joined on the all-league team by KU guard Devon Dotson, who was third team honoree and also selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Sophomore Marcus Garrett was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
“I’m proud of Dedric (Lawson) being first team, and you know he was right there for player of the year,” said head coach Bill Self. “Jarrett (Culver) probably deserved it based on how their team finished and how he finished, and I thought Barry (Brown) was right there as well. I thought either one would have been a good choice. I think Dedric being named first team and Devon (Dotson) third team are very deserving. The only thing I am disappointed with is I thought Devon should have been second team.The other thing that is disappointing is, without Udoka (Azuibuike) and Lagerald (Vick) eligible, you don’t have anybody that made honorable mention, which is probably a first for us in many, many years. I thought it was good for those two (Dedric and Devon) and I thought Marcus (Garrett) making the all-defensive team was definitely deserving and I think he would have a chance for defensive player of the year if he hadn’t got injured.
Overall, it was solid. Nothing unexpected happened. If anything, this will be motivation for all the players either selected or not selected to go either validate their season-long performance in the upcoming tournaments or to prove people wrong. It just adds to the competitiveness of the tournaments.”
Lawson is the second-consecutive Jayhawk to be named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year as Malik Newman earned the honor in 2017-18. Dating back to the Big Eight Conference, Lawson is the 10th Kansas player to be named its conference’s newcomer of the year (see list below).
Lawson was joined on the All-Big 12 First Team by Marial Shayok (Iowa State), Barry Brown Jr. (Kansas State), Dean Wade (Kansas State) and Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech). Lawson, Brown and Culver were unanimous selections by the league coaches. Culver is the Big 12 Player of the Year, while Brown is the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Texas’ Jaxson Hayes is the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, while Iowa State’s Lindell Wigginton won the Sixth Man Award and Oklahoma’s Kristian Doolittle the Most Improved Player Award. Texas Tech’s Chris Beard is the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
In the 23-year history of the conference, Kansas lays claim to a league-best 119 All-Big 12 selections which includes first-, second-, third-, honorable mention, all-defensive, all-freshman and all-newcomer team honorees. Texas is second with 94. Lawson gives Kansas a first-team selection for the 19th-consecutive season and the 21st time in the history of the league. Kansas has 22 All-Big 12 First Team choices in the 16 seasons under head coach Bill Self.
A Naismith Trophy semifinalist and named to the Wooden Award Final Ballot, Lawson has posted four straight double-doubles after his 23 points and 14 rebounds against Baylor (3/9) in the regular-season finale. The Memphis, Tennessee, forward leads the Big 12 in scoring at 19.1 ppg, rebounding at 10.6 rpg and with 20 double-doubles, which ranks tied for sixth nationally. A national player of the year and All-American candidate, Lawson has 15 games of 20 or more points and he is the only player in the league averaging a double-double. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week (11/12, 11/26, 12/26) and five-time league newcomer of the week (12/3, 12/17, 1/14, 1/28, 2/11), Lawson leads KU with 33 blocked shots and his 1.1 blocks per game are fifth in the conference. Lawson is 10th in the Big 12 with a 49.1 field goal percentage.
This is the third time Lawson has been named all-conference. While at Memphis, Lawson was All-American Athletic Conference first team in 2016-17 and second team in 2015-16. He was also the AAC Rookie of the Year in 2015-16.
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Dotson averaged 12.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.3 spg in Big 12 play. Named the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week on Feb. 12, Dotson ranks 15th in the Big 12 in scoring (11.7), seventh in assists (3.5), 12th in field goal percentage (47.6), eighth in steals (1.4) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).
After missing five games with a sprained ankle, Garrett has been back the last five KU contests. In that span, Garrett is 14-for-28 (50.0 percent) from the field. Garrett ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 1.6 steals per contest. The Dallas guard scored 8.8 points in Big 12 play and overall averages 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and has 50 assists.
No. 13/14 Kansas (23-8, 12-6) enters the 2019 Big 12 Championship as the No. 3 seed. The Jayhawks will face No. 6 seed Texas (16-15, 8-10) in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 14, at 8 p.m. (Central) at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The contest will be televised on ESPN2. KU is defending Big 12 Championship champions having won its 15th league postseason tournament title in 2018. The Jayhawks have won 11 league tourneys in the Big 12 era, including eight under head coach Bill Self.
2018-19 All-Big 12 Team
(As selected conference coaches; **unanimous selection)
Player of the Year – Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech (So., G).
Defensive Player of the Year – Barry Brown Jr., Kansas State (Sr., G)
Newcomer of the Year – DEDRIC LAWSON, KANSAS (R-Jr., F)
Freshman of the Year – Jaxson Hayes, Texas (F)
Sixth Man Award – Lindell Wigginton, Iowa State (So. G)
Most Improved Player – Kristian Doolittle, Oklahoma (Jr., F)
Coach of the Year – Chris Beard, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 First Team
Marial Shayok, Iowa State (Sr., G)
**Dedric Lawson, Kansas (R-Jr., F)
**Barry Brown Jr., Kansas State (Sr, G)
Dean Wade, Kansas State (Sr., F)
**Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech *So., G)
All-Big 12 Second Team
Makai Mason, Baylor (Sr., G)
Jaxson Hayes, Texas (Fr., F)
Desmond Bane,TCU (Jr., G)
Matt Mooney, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
Derek Culver, West Virginia (Fr., F)
All-Big 12 Third Team
Devon Dotson, Kansas (Fr., G)
Kristian Doolittle, Oklahoma (Jr., F)
Christian James, Oklahoma (Sr., G)
Alex Robinson, TCU (Sr., G)
Davide Moretti, Texas Tech (So., G)
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (Listed alphabetically by school)
Jared Butler (Baylor), Mario Kegler (Baylor), Mark Vital (Baylor), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Nick Weiler-Babb (Iowa State), Lindell Wigginton (Iowa State), Xavier Sneed (Kansas State), Kamau Stokes (Kansas State), Brady Manek (Oklahoma), Cameron McGriff (Oklahoma State), Lindy Waters (Oklahoma State), Kouat Noi (TCU), Matt Coleman III (Texas), Kerwin Roach II (Texas), Tariq Owens (Texas Tech)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (tie in voting)
Mark Vital, Baylor (So., G/F)
Marcus Garrett, Kansas (So., G)
**Barry Brown, Jr., Kansas State (Sr., G)
**Jaxson Hayes, Texas (Fr., F)
Matt Mooney, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
Tariq Owens, Texas Tech (Sr., F)
Big 12 All-Newcomer Team
Makai Mason, Baylor (Sr., G)
Marial Shayok, Iowa State (Sr., G)
**Dedric Lawson, Kansas (R-Jr., F)
Jaxson Hayes, Texas (Fr., F)
Matt Mooney, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Jared Butler, Baylor
Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State
Devon Dotson, Kansas
**Jaxson Hayes, Texas
**Derek Culver, West Virginia
KU’s Conference Newcomer(s) of the Year
Big Eight
Vernon Vanoy (1967)
John Douglas (1977)
Darnell Valentine (1978)
Danny Manning (1985)
Rick Calloway (1990)
Rex Walters (1992)
Jacque Vaughn (1994)
Jerod Haase (1995)
Big 12
Malik Newman (2018)
Dedric Lawson (2019)
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