Four days removed from his 19th birthday, Marcus Smart was named Big 12 Player of the Year on Sunday.
In voting by the conference’s head coaches, Oklahoma State’s star freshman point guard became the third Cowboy to receive the honor. Previous winners were Tony Allen (2004) and James Anderson (2010).
“It’s an honor to be in the same category as those players who have won these awards before,” Smart said in a teleconference with reporters. “It’s amazing. This is a big accomplishment for me and I’m just ecstatic about it, and I thank my teammates.”
Smart’s five conference honors included Big 12 Freshman of the Year and selections to the All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams. He is the third Cowboy to win Big 12 Player of the Year, joining Tony Allen (2004) and James Anderson (2010).
“For all the league coaches to choose me, it’s remarkable," Smart said. "There are a lot of great players in the Big 12, and it's an honor to be the one they chose for these awards."
Projected as high as the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Smart could be OSU’s first one-and-done player. He also is a finalist for the Wooden and Robertson awards, both for the best player in college basketball, and for the Integris Wayman Tisdale Award, given to the top freshman.
Also the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Smart is the third freshman to win Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of Texas’ Kevin Durant and Kansas State’s Michael Beasley.
Smart leads the league in steals, is fifth in scoring, sixth in assists and 15th in rebounding. His 89 steals tie a conference record for the most by a freshman, set by Mario Chalmers of Kansas in 2005-06.
He also owns the school record for the most steals and assists (130) by a freshman. During the regular season, Smart was on four occasions named the league’s Rookie of the Week and once was Player of the Week.
Projected as high as the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Smart could be OSU’s first one-and-done player. He also is a finalist for the Wooden and Robertson awards, both for the best player in college basketball, and for the Integris Wayman Tisdale Award, given to the top freshman.
Joining Smart on the All-Big 12 first team was Oklahoma senior forward Romero Osby, whose 17.8 points per game in conference play ranked second in the Big 12. Cowboy junior guard Markel Brown was on the second team.
Sooners Amath M’Baye and Steven Pledger made the third team, as did OSU’s Le’Bryan Nash. His teammate Michael Cobbins was an honorable-mention selection and made the defensive team, along with Smart.
M’Baye also was named to the rookie team.
2012-13 Big 12 honors
Player of the Year: Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Defensive Player of the Year: Jeff Withey, Kansas
Freshman of the Year: Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Newcomer of the Year: Will Clyburn, Iowa State
Sixth Man Award: Tyrus McGee, Iowa State
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Melvin Ejim, Iowa State
Coach of the Year: Bruce Weber, Kansas State
First team
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
Romero Osby, Oklahoma
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Second team
Pierre Jackson, Baylor
Will Clyburn, Iowa State
Travis Releford, Kansas
Angel Rodriguez, Kansas State
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State
Third team
Isaiah Austin, Baylor
Melvin Ejim, Iowa State
Amath M’Baye, Oklahoma
Steven Pledger, Oklahoma
Le’Bryan Nash, Oklahoma State
Honorable mention: Cory Jefferson (Baylor), Korie Lucious (Iowa State), Tyrus McGee (Iowa State), Elijah Johnson (Kansas), Shane Southwell (Kansas State), Michael Cobbins (Oklahoma State), Jaye Crockett (Texas Tech), Eron Harris (West Virginia), Deniz Kilicli (West Virginia)
Defensive team
Chris Babb, Iowa State
Travis Releford, Kansas
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Angel Rodriguez, Kansas State
Michael Cobbins, Oklahoma State
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Rookie team
Isaiah Austin, Baylor
Will Clyburn, Iowa State
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Amath M’Baye, Oklahoma
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
