Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson was one of the most talked about players in all of college basketball, let alone the Big 12 Conference, this season.
His on-again/off-again status, a handful of injuries, persistent cramping and an unfathomable amount of fodder on social media and message boards regarding what fans and haters alike liked to say was “really going on” with him, made for a wild season like we’ve never quite seen before.
But through it all, there we were on the first Monday following the completion of the regular season, with Peterson’s name landing as a second team selection for the 2025-26 postseason all-Big 12 teams.
Peterson joined teammates Flory Bidunga (first team, all-defense & defensive player of the year) and Melvin Council Jr. (honorable mention, all-newcomer & newcomer of the year) in being recognized for their play this season.
The Peterson question was unlike just about anything we’ve seen. There’s not a coach in the league who doesn’t think that DP is one of the most talented players in the conference. But the 15 Big 12 coaches who were eligible to vote for him didn’t all see him in quite the same way.
Some saw him for a half. Some saw him at half speed. Some saw him go nuts. And others didn’t see him at all.
In the end, Self, who could not vote for his team or any of his players, thought things played out pretty well.
“I thought it was fair,” the KU coach said on Tuesday afternoon. “When he's right, there's no doubt he should be on the first team. But he probably hadn't played enough to probably (for) people to see the consistency or whatever to (put him on the first team). So, I thought everything about it was fair.”
Except for one thing.
KU senior Tre White, who was the Jayhawks’ second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder while starting all 31 games this season, was left off of the postseason honors list altogether.
No first team. No second team. No third team. No honorable mention. That’s 20 spots — 10 on first team, 5 on second team and 5 on third team — where 15 different coaches could’ve put White without doing it. All it takes to land on the honorable mention list is for at least one Big 12 coach to put you on their first, second or third team.
“It's disappointing to me that nobody did,” Self said. “Because, to me, he for sure is (one of the top 20 players in our league). (But) somebody was gonna get left off. I thought it was unfortunate that it was Tre because I thought he deserved better.”
It wasn’t just Self who was frustrated by White’s omission.
"Tre White. Unbelievable for us and didn't win anything,” Council said on Tuesday, noting that White being left out was one of the first things he discussed with Bidunga when the two found out about their individual honors. “That was crazy. I don't understand that."
2026 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards
Player of the Year: Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Defensive Player of the Year: Flory Bidunga, Kansas 🏀
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Freshman of the Year: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Newcomer of the Year: Melvin Council Jr., Kansas 🏀
Sixth Man Award: Tobe Awaka, Arizona*
Most Improved: Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Coach of the Year: Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
All-Big 12 First Team
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Brayden Burries, Arizona
Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Kingston Flemings, Houston*
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Flory Bidunga, Kansas 🏀
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
JT Toppin, Texas Tech*
All-Big 12 Second Team
Richie Saunders, BYU
Baba Miller, Cincinnati
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Darryn Peterson, Kansas 🏀
All-Big 12 Third Team
Koa Peat, Arizona
Cameron Carr, Baylor
Rob Wright, BYU
Themus Fulks, UCF
Xavier Edmonds, TCU
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention: Arizona: Tobe Awaka, Baylor: Tounde Yessoufou, Cincinnati: Moustapha Thiam, Colorado: Isaiah Johnson, Houston: Joseph Tugler, Milos Uzan, 🏀 Kansas: Melvin Council Jr., Kansas State: PJ Haggerty, Oklahoma State: Parsa Fallah, TCU: David Punch, Texas Tech: Donovan Atwell, West Virginia: Honor Huff, Utah: Terrence Brown.
All-Defensive Team
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Joseph Tugler, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Flory Bidunga, Kansas* 🏀
A tie resulted in an extra position on the team
All-Freshman Team
Brayden Burries, Arizona*
Koa Peat, Arizona
AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
Kingston Flemings, Houston*
Darryn Peterson, Kansas* 🏀
All-Newcomer Team
Cameron Carr, Baylor
Themus Fulks, UCF
Baba Miller, Cincinnati
Melvin Council Jr., Kansas 🏀
Donovan Atwell, Texas Tech
* = unanimous selection
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