Davis named Big 12’s top freshman as she, Nichols receive first-team honors

By Henry Greenstein     Mar 3, 2026
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article image Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Kansas forward Jaliya Davis celebrates running off the court after defeating Texas Tech in Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 in Lawrence.

After a historic first collegiate season in which she became the first power-conference player ever to receive nine straight freshman of the week honors, Kansas forward Jaliya Davis was fittingly named the Big 12’s freshman of the year on Tuesday.

Davis received the award unanimously in a poll of league coaches and is the first Jayhawk ever to earn it. The 6-foot-2 native of Overland Park, a former McDonald’s All-American who attended Blue Valley North High School, averaged 21.0 points and 6.3 rebounds. After missing most of nonconference play due to lower leg pain, Davis returned on Jan. 1 for KU’s second conference game against West Virginia and has received a weekly award for her performance every week since.

Davis has never scored fewer than 10 points in a game and is the Big 12’s second-leading scorer in conference games behind only Iowa State’s Audi Crooks. She is also the only power-conference freshman averaging more than 20 points per game.

Davis was joined by fellow Overland Park native S’Mya Nichols, KU’s junior guard and team leader, on the All-Big 12 first team.

Nichols has earned that same distinction all three years of her collegiate career. Despite battling ankle injuries this season, Nichols has averaged 17.8 points, 4.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game as the Jayhawks’ point guard and also ranks among the league’s top scorers. She had a career-best 40-point game this season against Georgia on Nov. 28 in Fort Myers, Florida.

Nichols surpassed Lynette Woodard this year as KU’s all-time career leader in free throws made, and she currently leads the nation in free throws made and attempted this season.

TCU’s Olivia Miles was named both the league’s player and newcomer of the year. West Virginia’s Jordan Harrison was the defensive player of the year, Texas Tech’s Snudda Collins was the sixth player of the year and Iowa State’s Arianna Jackson received scholar-athlete of the year honors. Tech coach Krista Gerlich received the title of coach of the year.

KU is the No. 11 seed in the Big 12 tournament and will face No. 14 seed UCF at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.