Arizona’s Jaden Bradley was named the Big 12 Player of the Year to headline the 2026 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 men’s basketball awards, while Kansas collected two of the conference’s top individual honors.
Kansas sophomore Flory Bidunga was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and guard Melvin Council Jr. earned Newcomer of the Year honors, giving the Jayhawks a pair of major individual awards following the regular season.
Bradley helped lead Arizona to the Big 12 regular-season championship, averaging 13.4 points and 4.6 assists per game as the Wildcats finished 18-2 in conference play. Arizona also swept two other major awards, with Tobe Awaka named Sixth Man of the Year and Tommy Lloyd earning Coach of the Year honors.
Bidunga became the ninth Kansas player to win the league’s defensive award and the first since Dajuan Harris in 2023. The 6-foot-10 sophomore from Kinshasa, Congo led the Big 12 with 2.7 blocks per game, anchoring a Kansas defense that held opponents to a conference-best 38.7% shooting. Bidunga also averaged 13.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
Council, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, averaged 13.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game for Kansas. The senior guard finished among the conference’s top 10 in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio while providing veteran leadership for the Jayhawks.
Kansas also placed Bidunga on the All-Big 12 First Team, while freshman Darryn Peterson earned second-team honors and a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Kansas State also appeared in the postseason awards. PJ Haggerty earned All-Big 12 honorable mention recognition for the Wildcats.
Elsewhere in the conference awards, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa was named Freshman of the Year after averaging an NCAA-leading 24.7 points per game, while Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson earned Most Improved Player honors. Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey was selected as the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The conference also announced its All-Big 12 teams, along with all-defensive, all-freshman and all-newcomer squads following the conclusion of the regular season.
2026 Phillips 66 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*
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