Devonte’ Graham snags second Big 12 Player of the Year honor

By Matt Tait Mar 6, 2018

Nick Krug

Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) raises up the Fieldhouse during a timeout in the second half, Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham backed up his Big 12 Player of the Year honor from the conference’s coaches by winning the same honor from the Big 12 media on Tuesday.

Graham, the unanimous pick of the nine other Big 12 coaches for player of the year, edged out Oklahoma’s Trae Young (the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by both voting panels) in the media voting on Tuesday — nine votes to seven — and both players were unanimous picks on the all-Big 12 first team.

They were joined by Texas Tech’s Keenan Evans, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter and Texas’ Mo Bamba. The lone difference between the coaches’ first team and AP team was Bamba landing on the first team over Kansas State’s Dean Wade.

KU coach Bill Self also earned AP Coach of the Year, edging out Texas Tech’s Chris Beard, whom he shared the coaches’ honor with, 10 votes to seven. It marked the fourth consecutive such honor for Self and seventh in the last 13 seasons.

KU starters Udoka Azubuike and Svi Mykhailiuk both landed on the AP second team, joining Wade and K-State’s Barry Brown and TCU’s Kenrich Williams.

The following players earned honorable mention nods from the AP voters: Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU; Jeffrey Carroll, Oklahoma State; Sagaba Konate, West Virginia; Manu Lecomte, Baylor; Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Baylor; Malik Newman, Kansas; Zhaire Smith, Texas Tech; Mitchell Solomon, Oklahoma State; Lindell Wigginton, Iowa State.

Here’s an updated list of all of the honors thrown at the 2017-18 Jayhawks so far:

Bill Self

USBWA District VI Coach of the Year

Big 12 co-Coach of the Year (Big 12, Associated Press)

Udoka Azubuike

All-Big 12 Second Team (Associated Press)

USBWA All-District VI Team

All-Big 12 Third Team (Big 12)

Academic All-Big 12 Second Team

Devonte’ Graham

NCAA.com First Team

USA TODAY All-America First Team

USBWA District VI Player of the Year

USBWA All-District VI Team

The Sporting News All-America First Team

Bob Cousy Award Finalist – 1 of 5

Big 12 Player of the Year (Big 12, Associated Press)

All-Big 12 First Team (Big 12, Associated Press)

Citizen Naismith Trophy Semifinalist – 1 of 10

Wooden Award National Ballot – 1 of 15

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk

All-Big 12 Second Team (Big 12, Associated Press)

Malik Newman

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (Associated Press)

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year

Big 12 All-Newcomer Team

Lagerald Vick

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention

Clay Young

Academic All-Big 12 First Team

KU big man Udoka Azubuike's free throw fix still a work in progress

Show/Post Comments

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.