Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Introduction The '''Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year''' is an award given to the Big 12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1996–97 season, the first year of conference competition but three years after the conference's official formation. It is selected by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players. Kansas has had the most individual winners of the award with 12.Only two players have won the award multiple times: Raef LaFrentz of Kansas, who won the first two awards in 1997 and 1998, and Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, who won the award in 2015 and 2016.Four freshmen have won the award: Kevin Durant of Texas, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State, and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.Three current Big 12 institutions have yet to have a winner: Baylor (charter member), TCU (2012 arrival), and West Virginia (2012 arrival).In addition, three former Big 12 institutions never had a winner of the award during their tenure in the Big 12: Colorado (which will return to the Big 12 in 2024), Missouri, and Texas A&M.Four other institutions are playing their first Big 12 season in 2023–24: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.
Key  † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award:Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big 12 Player of the Year award at that point
Winners Kansas State's Michael Beasley was the second freshman in a row to win the award, earning it in 2008.Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was the consensus National Player of the Year when he won the award in 2009.Oklahoma's Buddy Hield won the award in 2016.Season Player School Position Class Reference 1996–97  Kansas  PF   1997–98  (2) Kansas PF   1998–99   Nebraska  C   1999–00    Iowa State PF   2000–01    Iowa State PG   2001–02   Kansas PF   2002–03    Kansas PF   2003–04   Oklahoma State  SG   2004–05    Kansas PF   2005–06  Texas  SF   2006–07 *  Texas SF   2007–08    Kansas State  PF   2008–09  * Oklahoma  PF   2009–10   Oklahoma State SG   2010–11   Kansas PF   2011–12   Kansas PF   2012–13   Oklahoma State PG   2013–14   Iowa State SF   2014–15  Oklahoma SG   2015–16 * (2) Oklahoma SG   2016–17 * Kansas PG   2017–18  Kansas PG   2018–19  Texas Tech SG   2019–20  Kansas C   2020–21  Oklahoma State G   2021–22  Kansas SG   2022–23  Kansas F
Winners by school  School (year joined) Winners YearsKansas (1996)12 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023Oklahoma State (1996)4 2004, 2010, 2013, 2021Iowa State (1996)3 2000, 2001, 2014Oklahoma (1996)3 2009, 2015, 2016Texas (1996)2 2006, 2007Kansas State (1996)1 2008Nebraska (1996)1 1999Texas Tech (1996)1 2019Baylor (1996)0— BYU (2023) 0 — Cincinnati (2023) 0 —Colorado (1996)0— Houston (2023) 0 —Missouri (1996)0—TCU (2012)0—Texas A&M (1996)0 — UCF (2023) 0 — West Virginia (2012) 0 —
See also *Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year*Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year – the predecessor to the Big 12 Conference and its players of the year (although the Big 12 does not recognize Big Eight Players of the Year as their own)
References