Kansas Athletics
IRVING, Texas – For the 21st time in the 28-year history of the coaches' men's basketball preseason Big 12 poll, Kansas has been selected as the favorite to win the conference as the league announced preseason awards Thursday.
Individually, Kansas graduate center Hunter Dickinson is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season becoming the first player in conference history to earn the accolade twice. Dickinson, a unanimous preseason all-conference first team selection, is joined on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team by KU teammate Dajuan Harris Jr., who is on the preseason all-league second team.
Kansas received nine of a possible 15 first-place votes in the poll as coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team. KU amassed 215 points, edging 2024 Big 12 regular-season champion Houston (211) in the poll. Houston had five first-place votes. Iowa State (194), with one first-place vote, was third in the poll with Baylor fourth and Arizona fifth. Arizona garnered one first-place vote in the poll.
Historically, Dickinson marks the 12th Jayhawk to collect the preseason player of the year award. Kansas has had at least one player on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team in all but two of the 29 seasons the conference has existed, since 1996-97. Dickinson is the 41st Jayhawk to be listed on the Preseason All-Big 12 first team.
Kansas is coming off a 23-11 season where it advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 33rd time in the last 34 years, a run that started in 1990. KU returns three starters led by Dickinson, a 2024 Consensus All-America Second Team, All-Big 12 First Team and the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year selection. Dickinson was the only player in the Big 12 to average a double-double (17.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg) last year. Harris has been the starter each of the last three seasons and was the 2023 Big 12 Defensive player of the Year. A three-time all-league honoree, Harris has led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio two of the last three seasons and has ranked in the top five in the conference in assists per game each of the last three years. Two-time All-Big 12 selection and the 2023 Big 12 Most Improved player, KJ Adams Jr. is also back as a returning starter. Kansas has nine newcomers on its roster that includes six upperclassmen transfers.
2024-25 Big 12 Preseason Honors (as voted on by the coaches)Preseason Poll
Place. Team (first place votes)
1-KANSAS (9) – 215
2-Houston (5) – 211
3-Iowa State (1) – 194
4-Baylor – 185
5-Arizona (1) – 179
6-Cincinnati – 140
7-Texas Tech – 135
8-K-State – 133
9-BYU – 116
10-TCU – 90
11-UCF – 83
12-Arizona State – 64
13-West Virginia – 62
14-Oklahoma State – 46
15-Colorado – 37
16-Utah – 30
Preseason All-Big 12 First Team
Caleb Love, Arizona
LJ Cryer, Houston
J'Wan Roberts, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas*
Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team
Norchad Omier, Baylor
Jeremy Roach, Baylor
Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State
Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
Coleman Hawkins, K-State
*- unanimous
Preseason Player of the Year: HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS
Preseason Co-Newcomer of the Year: Jeremy Roach, Baylor
Preseason Co-Newcomer of the Year: Coleman Hawkins, K-State
Freshman of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.