No. 5-seeded BYU men’s basketball is riding into its first Big 12 tournament with some new hardware.
Four Cougars have earned 2023-24 All-Big 12 honors, as the conference’s awards were announced Sunday evening.
Guards Jaxson Robinson, Dallin Hall and Spencer Johnson, along with forward Fousseyni Traore, were all named as All-Big 12 honorable mention selections. Additionally, Robinson earned the league’s Sixth Man Award for top performer off the bench.
Robinson led all BYU scorers by averaging 13.9 points despite making just six starts on the season. The senior — and rising NBA draft prospect — shot 34.8% from 3-point range and posted 12.2 points per game against conference foes.
Hall made significant improvements at point guard for the Cougars in his sophomore effort, scoring 9.1 points with a team-high 5.0 assists while leading BYU in minutes played.
In addition to his veteran leadership, Johnson enjoyed the most well-rounded contributions of his collegiate career with 10.5 points, 3.3 assists and a BYU-best 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Johnson was one of just three Cougars to appear in all 31 games this season.
Despite primarily coming off the bench for the first time in his career, Traore posted 10.9 points and 5.1 boards in Big 12 play while shooting 63% from the field, adding an effective inside presence to complement the Cougars’ heavy 3-point shooting attack.
BYU did not have any First, Second, Third, All-Defense, All-Newcomer or All-Freshman team selections but had more honorable mention nods than any other school.
Houston’s Jamal Shead received both conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year recognition, while Kansas center Hunter Dickinson was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson earned Coach of the Year honors over Mark Pope of the Cougars.
Having finished the regular season with a 10-8 record in Big 12 play, BYU will begin its postseason push in the conference tournament’s second round Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. CT in Kansas City. The Cougars will face the winner of Tuesday’s clash between Oklahoma State and UCF.