Big 12 Predictions: Player and Newcomer of the Year
Posted by Brian Goodman on November 14th, 2014It’s been a fun run-up to the season here at the Big 12 microsite, with plenty of discussion on the strength and depth of the conference and whether any team is poised to knock Kansas from its perch at the top of the standings. We finish things off with the group’s selections for Big 12 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
Player Of The Year
The new and improved Georges Niang will be the Big 12’s best player, according to three of our four experts. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/AP)
- Kory Carpenter: Georges Niang, Iowa State – I wanted to go with Juwan Staten here, but I think he’ll have to be even better than he was last season for the media to give him the award again. Niang averaged 16.7 PPG/4.5 RPG/3.6 APG last season and looks to have gotten into great shape this offseason while recovering from foot surgery. He lost about 25 pounds and re-tooled his diet. That, along with the wide-open attack of Iowa State, should lead to plenty of buckets for the svelter forward this season.
- Brian Goodman: Niang – A Cyclone will take home the hardware for the second straight year as Niang will pace Fred Hoiberg’s balanced attack. Though he may get more attention from opposing defenses with Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane now gone, he has a great ball-handler in Monte’ Morris who will be able to get him touches in spite of that. Niang will take care of the rest from there. I also look for the junior to deliver better rebounding numbers due to his improved conditioning.
- Nate Kotisso: Juwan Staten, West Virginia – With Eron Harris gone, much of the scoring, leadership and defensive stopper roles will fall on Staten’s shoulders. As a senior, Staten wouldn’t expect anything different.
- Chris Stone: Niang – After slimming down over the summer, Iowa State’s most-used player from last season (27.8% of possessions) returns for his junior year looking to lead the Cyclones in their Big 12 campaign. Niang is a matchup nightmare for most coaches with his ability to step out and play the perimeter, a skill he showed last season while posting 16.7 points per game. My assumption that Iowa State is going to perform well in the league tips my POY choice to Niang over West Virginia’s Juwan Staten, who will have to adapt to the loss of Eron Harris.
Newcomer Of The Year
This year’s nominees are split between two transfers and two high-impact freshmen. Thankfully, we haven’t seen the hype approach anything close to last year’s levels, but this crop is definitely good enough to keep people talking about them all season.
Myles Turner looks to help Texas build on its surprise 2014 season. (ESPN)
- KC: Myles Turner, Texas – Jahlil Okafor, the nation’s No. 1 recruit, has been getting more than enough love from the media heading into the season. He’s a popular pick for National Player of the Year as well. So if Okafor is that good, Myles Turner has to be decent too, right? Turner, the No. 2 overall recruit last season, hasn’t gotten anywhere near the same attention since choosing the Longhorns — the perils of not playing at Duke, I suppose. But I can’t believe the drop-off from No. 1 to No. 2 in the same recruiting class is as big as we’ve been led to believe. A seven-footer with longer arms than nearly anyone you will see this season, Turner will block plenty of shots and affect many more at the rim. He has enough talent around him down low so that he shouldn’t get double-teamed, giving the big man plenty of room to operate. He’s also fortunate in that the newcomers at Kansas — Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre, mostly — are surrounded by oodles of talented players, so they likely won’t put up the types of numbers that Turner is capable of producing in Austin.
- BG: Cliff Alexander, Kansas – The only thing that kept me from putting Alexander on my first team yesterday was the daunting non-conference schedule in front of the Jayhawks, because once conference play rolls around, I expect Alexander to explode. I don’t think he’s as raw as a lot of people are making him out to be, but I do think it will take some time for him to get comfortable. Once Big 12 play hits, though, I don’t see any serious threats, save for Texas and Oklahoma if TaShawn Thomas is eligible, to contain an agile blue-chipper who plays for arguably the country’s best big man coach.
- NK: TaShawn Thomas, Oklahoma – If declared eligible, Thomas could very well be the difference between another NCAA Tournament appearance and a Final Four-caliber team at Oklahoma. At 6’8″ and 240 pounds, Thomas can score and rebound around opponents and is an outstanding shot-blocker. The phrase “if eligible” is all that holds him back from this conversation.
- CS: Bryce Dejean-Jones, Iowa State – Fred Hoiberg wins the transfer battle again with the acquisition of Bryce Dejean-Jones from UNLV. Dejean-Jones led the Runnin’ Rebels in scoring last season at 13.6 points per game. Assuming he controls some of his tendencies to take poor shots — 40.4 percent of his attempts last year were two-point jumpers and he only made 34.1 percent of them — he’ll be a fantastic contributor to Iowa State’s offense.
Brian Goodman a Big 12 microsite writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BSGoodman.
