Freshman guard Trae Young received multiple conference nods Sunday morning. Those awards, however, did not included Big 12 Player of the Year, a title he was hoping for.
Kansas' Devonte Graham was the unanimous selection, voted on by all the league's coaches.
Young's record included a nation-leading average of 27.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, multiple program records, and he recently broke the conference record for points scored in the regular season. After Oklahoma's conference slump, though, it wasn't enough. Conference coaches said publicly before the awards were announced, they didn't believe he would be the recipient of the award due to the Sooners' record.
"I’m disappointed I didn’t get player of the year, but I know winning matters," Young said. "I wish we could’ve won more games. I’m very disappointed. But if that was the case, Kansas should have the last 14 Players of the Year, but I’m very honored for the awards I got, so I’m ready to get it going again."
Young was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 Newcomer Team.
Junior guard Christian James, who has said in the past he will always stick up for Young, isn't concerned.
"He’s handled everything, all the accolades well," James said. "He’s a freshman. He’s a special kid. He’s freshman of the year and (got) a couple other awards. That’s big time. You know he wanted that Big 12 Player of the Year, but he has better, brighter things in the future."
