The Big 12 conference will hand out several awards this weekend as they do at the end of every season. The Big 12 player of the year will likely go to Ochai Agbaji of Kansas who has been very good for the Jayhawks this season and has them in a position to win the Big 12. The Big 12 defensive player in the year seems up in the air to me with no dominant shot-blocker in the conference.

Freshman of the year is also a toss-up, but Baylor has had two freshmen step up big time down the stretch for them in Kendall Brown and Jeremy Sochan. Tyrese Hunter for the Cyclones has also been very good.

No Red Raiders in any of those award conversations, though Kevin McCullar is up for Naismith defensive player of the year, so it wouldn't be a huge leap to say he's on the shortlist for the conference award.

That brings me to one award that I think is down between an Iowa State Cyclone and a Texas Tech Red Raider. Big 12 New Comer of the Year.

The two leaders in this clubhouse to me are Texas Tech's Bryson Williams and Iowa State's Izaiah Brockington. On the surface, Brockington has more points per game and is one of the conference leaders in rebounding at 6-foot-4. If Iowa State hadn't folded down the stretch in conference play, Brockington would be right there with Ochai Agbaji for outright Player of the Year, but he also plays more minutes than most in the conference.

The efficiency of Bryson Williams in Conference play has been astounding, with six less minutes per game, Williams averages just two fewer points than Brockington per game in Big 12 play. Williams has also made the leap to the Big 12 from UTEP while Brockington played the last few years at Penn State.

On the season, Williams is shooting 54% from the field and 44% from deep, and better than 80% from the stripe in conference play.

Both Williams and Brockington only have one Big 12 game a piece where they didn't score double-digits against a conference opponent.

Either player is deserving, but Bryson Williams should be holding the plaque when they hand it out next week.

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