Photo courtesy of Dale Sparks/WVU Athletics Communications WVU junior forward Derek Culver is an All-Big 12 First Teamer.

Photo courtesy of Dale Sparks/WVU Athletics Communications
WVU junior forward Derek Culver is an All-Big 12 First Teamer.

IRVING, Texas — Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham became just the fourth freshman in Conference history to earn Player of the Year while Baylor’s Scott Drew picked up Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season in the 2020-21 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 men’s basketball awards chosen by the head coaches.

Cunningham was also the unanimous Freshman of the Year while Texas Tech’s Mac McClung was the unanimous Newcomer of the Year. Baylor’s Davion Mitchell was voted Defensive Player of the Year, Kansas’ David McCormack received the award for Most Improved Player and Texas’ Kai Jones was chosen for the Sixth Man Award.

The All-Big 12 First Team consisted of Cunningham, Baylor’s Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell, Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves and West Virginia’s Derek Culver. Cunningham and Butler were unanimous selections.

Cunningham finished the regular season as the league’s top scorer in both overall (19.7) and conference (20.1) games and is on the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award. He is also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award and was the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after his 40-point, 11-rebound performance in an overtime win at then-No. 7 Oklahoma. According to Stats Perform, only four other power conference players over the last 20 seasons can match Cunningham’s all-around stat line of 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.