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Big 12 Basketball: Dedric Lawson, Kansas State top league performers

By Jason Kinander

AMES, IA - JANUARY 5: Tyrese Haliburton #22 of the Iowa State Cyclones celebrates with George Conditt IV #4 of the Iowa State Cyclones after sinking a 3 point shot in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on January 5, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - JANUARY 5: Tyrese Haliburton #22 of the Iowa State Cyclones celebrates with George Conditt IV #4 of the Iowa State Cyclones after sinking a 3 point shot in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on January 5, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 23: Dedric Lawson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts during the second half of the game against Tennessee Volunteers at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 23: Dedric Lawson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts during the second half of the game against Tennessee Volunteers at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Individual Player Superlatives

Basketball is a team sport, but sports wouldn’t be fun without individual awards. Here are a couple of individual superlatives for certain Big 12 players that have stood out.

Player of the Year: Dedric Lawson, Kansas

Dedric Lawson, in his first season after transferring from Memphis, has absolutely carried the Kansas Jayhawks.

Although Kansas, to their standards, has been a major disappointment this season, Lawson has had a spectacular season, averaging 19 points and ten rebounds per game.

In wake of the absences of Udoka Azubuike and Lagerald Vick, Lawson has stepped up big, proving himself to be the clear most valuable player to his team, and ultimately the conference as a whole.

While Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech and Mariol Shayok of Iowa State are in the midst of stellar seasons in their own right, Lawson gets the nod as player of the year due to the magnitude of his numbers, and his unmeasurable value to his team.

Newcomer of the Year (other than Lawson): Marial Shayok, Iowa State

Lawson would be the newcomer of the year as well, however, Shayok certainly deserves his time in the spotlight.

A graduate transfer from Virginia, Shayok is averaging 19 points and five rebounds for the Cyclones, leading the most well-balanced team in the Big 12.

Shayok has been the unlikely top player on a fairly loaded Cyclone team. In their last game, a loss against TCU, Shayok carried the load on offense, scoring 24 points, while grabbing seven boards.

Earlier on in the season, when top scorer Lindell Wigginton went down with an injury and missed extended time, Shayok stepped up big, emerging as a real threat on offense for Iowa State.

In a league that, contrary to recent years, has been really thin on freshmen, transfers have been the top newcomers. Shayok, Baylor’s Makai Mason, Lawson, and Texas Tech’s Matt Mooney are all transfers who have made big impacts on their teams.

Most Improved Player: Alex Robinson, TCU

After it was announced that junior guard Jaylen Fisher would miss the remainder of the season and transfer, TCU really needed someone to step up.

Alex Robinson was the one to step up in Fisher’s absence, and he has done it in a big way. The senior point guard is averaging 13 points, four rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game–all career highs.

Last Tuesday against Oklahoma State, Robinson became TCU’s all-time assists leader, just an example of his pure value to the team, as their catalyst on the offensive end.

In past seasons, TCU was able to rely on post scoring in the form of polished big men such as Kenrich Williams and Vladimir Brodziansky. Both Vlad and Kenny are gone, and Robinson has been a key cog in the revamping of the Horned Frog’s offense.

In TCU’s last game, an upset on the road against #17 Iowa State (TCU’s second road win against a ranked opponent in school history), Robinson scored 17 points and dished out five assists. Robinson’s increased contribution in wake of several absences from last season have made him the clear most improved player in the Big 12.

Biggest Disappointment (tie): Udoka Azubuike, Silvio De Souza, Kansas

Fresh off of a Final Four run the previous year, Kansas looked fairly strong despite losing their top three scorers (Devonte Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk, Malik Newman), reloading their roster with a trio of transfers, a pair of five stars, and return two premier big men.

While the first five of those returnees have worked out, the big men have been a colossal disaster. Let’s start with De Souza.

De Souza joined the Kansas roster midway through last season after graduating high school. De Souza played a big role in Kansas’ postseason run, and looked to step into an expanded role in 2018-19.

Needless to say, he hasn’t been able to do any of that. De Souza was ruled ineligible by the NCAA from the very start of the season, and recently was ruled ineligible until the 2020-2021 season.

Meanwhile, Azubuike played in just nine games this season before going down with a season-ending hand injury at the start of conference play. The void left by Azubuike’s post play and experience has been huge, as Kansas is just 1-6 in true road games.

All Big 12 Teams:

First Team All-Big 12:

G: Alex Robinson, TCU

G: Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech

G: Marial Shayok, Iowa State

F: Dedric Lawson, Kansas

F: Dean Wade, Kansas State

Second Team All-Big 12:

G: Makai Mason, Baylor

G: Christian James, Oklahoma

G: Barry Brown Jr., Kansas State

F: Kouat Noi, TCU

F: Dylan Osetkowski, Texas

Third Team All-Big 12:

G: Kerwin Roach II, Texas

G: Desmond Bane, TCU

G: Lagerald Vick, Kansas

F: Michael Jacobson, Iowa State

F: Cameron McGriff, Oklahoma State

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