Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Markquis Nowell was named to Winter Academic All-Big 12 Team on Wednesday (April 26), as the league honored 481 student-athletes on the First and Second Teams.
Nowell, who earned his undergraduate degree in communications in December, was selected to the 74-member Second Team, which honors student-athletes with a GPA of 3.0 to 3.19. He was one of 36 men's basketball players in the Big 12 to earn the distinction, while he was the first Wildcat since 2018.
The Winter Academic All-Big 12 Team consisted of student-athletes in seven league-sponsored sports, including men's and women's basketball, equestrian, women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and diving and wrestling. Overall, K-State had eight honorees on the Academic All-Big 12 Team.
The honor was yet another for the 5-foot-7, 160-pound point guard from Harlem, N.Y., who enjoyed a stellar senior season in guiding the Wildcats to a 26-win season and their 13th Elite Eight in 2022-23.
The winner of the 2023 Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, Nowell finished second nationally in assists/game (8.3 apg.), total assists (297) and total steals (92), while he ranked among the top-15 in 4 other categories. He was named a Third Team All-American by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, NABC and USBWA, while he was selected to the All-Big 12 First Team by the league coaches and AP as well as Big 12 All-Defensive Team by the coaches.
Nowell had a historic run through the 2023 NCAA Tournament, averaging 23.5 points, 13.5 assists and 4.0 steals en route to earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the NCAA East Regional. His 54 assists are the third-most in the tournament's history, while he dished out a tournament and school-record 19 assists in the win over Michigan State on March 23. He finished his college career with just the second 30-point, 10-assist game in school history, as he led the way with game-highs in points (30), assists (12) and steals (5) in playing all 40 minutes against FAU.
For the season, Nowell averaged a team-best 17.6 points on 38.6 percent (180-of-466) from the field, including 35.5 percent (88-of-248) from 3-point range, and 88.9 percent (185-of-208) from the free throw line to go along with a Big 12-best 8.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 steals in 36.9 minutes per game.
Nowell leaves K-State as the single-season leader in total assists and steals, assists/game as well as the career leader in assists/game (6.87), while he ranks in the top-5 single-season double-double scoring games (33/4th), 3-point field goals (88/5th), free throws (185/5th) and free throw percentage (88.9/5th).
Nowell's 968 points in his 2-year career are the second-most by a Division I transfer in school history, while he is third in career assists (433) and fifth in career steals (151).