Kansas
🏀 Kansas Well Represented on All-Big 12 Team
IRVING, Texas – Led by Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Hunter Dickinson, all five Kansas men’s basketball starters are included on the 2024 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards, the league office announced Sunday. The awards were voted on by the conference coaches and they were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Dickinson and graduate Kevin McCullar Jr. were named members of the All-Big 12 First Team, while junior KJ Adams Jr., redshirt-senior Dajuan Harris Jr. and freshman Johnny Furphy were on the all-conference honorable mention list. Harris was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team for the third-consecutive year, while Dickinson was selected to the 2024 Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and Furphy to the 2024 Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Historically, this marks the fourth time in Big 12 history that a Jayhawk has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Dickinson joins Malik Newman (2018), Dedric Lawson (2019) and David McCormack (2021). Dickinson is the 17th KU player named to the Big 12-All Newcomer squad. Dating back to the Big Eight Conference era, Dickinson is the 12th KU player to be named his league’s newcomer of the year.
Furphy is the fifth KU player to be named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team that started in 2019. He joins Devon Dotson (2019), Christian Braun (2020), Adams (2022) and Gradey Dick (2023). The Big 12 All-Defensive Team started in 2006 and Harris marks the 23rd time a Jayhawk has made that five-member squad.
A six-time Big 12 weekly award winner and on most every national player of the year list, Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is eighth nationally in rebounds per game at 10.8. The Alexandria, Virginia, center’s 16 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are 11th nationally. With an 18.0 ppg, which is second in the Big 12 behind McCullar, Dickinson is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. He also leads the Big 12 with 14 games of 20-plus points. Dickinson also leads KU with 43 blocked shots and has 29 steals. Dickinson is on his all-conference team for the fourth-consecutive season. He was the Big Ten Freshman and Newcomer of the Year in 2021.
Named to most every national player of the year late watch list, McCullar Jr. leads the Big 12 in scoring at 18.3 points per game. His two triple-doubles are the third most in the NCAA. The San Antonio, Texas, guard is second on the team with 39 three-point field goals made. His 6.0 rebounds per game are also second on the team and McCullar ranks in 11 Big 12 statistical categories. McCullar is an All-Big 12 selection for the fourth straight season, with two at Texas Tech in 2021 and 2022 and two at Kansas in 2023 and 2024.
Adams has led the Big 12 in field goal percentage most of the season at 59.9% yet is two field goals shy of qualifying for the league and national stats. The Austin, Texas, forward is averaging 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He has 96 assists in 2023-24, including 34 in his last 11 contests. The 2023 Big 12 Most Improved Player, Adams is on the All-Big 12 team for the second-straight year.
Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 with 6.4 assists per game, which is 10th nationally, and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0), which is 27th nationally. The Columbia, Missouri, guard averages 8.3 points per contest and has a team-high 48 steals. Besides being a three-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection, Harris is also a three-time All-Big 12 honoree.
Furphy (9.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in Big 12 play. The Melbourne, Australia, guard has started in 16 games for KU and leads the team with 40 threes made this season.
In the 28-year history of the Big 12, Kansas has 37 All-Big 12 First Team selections which is more than twice as many as any other school. KU has had a first-team honoree in 25 of the 28 seasons of the league and two on the first team 12 times. Kansas leads the Big 12 with an all-time high 159 student-athletes named to All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards. Texas is second with 120, while Baylor is third with 116 selections.
No. 14 Kansas (22-9, 10-8) will enter the 2024 Big 12 Championship as the No. 6 seed and will play its first game on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2) against the winner of the No. 14 West Virginia and No. 11 Cincinnati contest. The WVU-UC game will be played on Tuesday, March 12 at 2 p.m. The Big 12 Championship runs March 12-16 and will be played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
2024 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards
Player of the Year – Jamal Shead, Houston
Defensive Player of the Year – Jamal Shead, Houston
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS
Freshman of the Year – Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor
Sixth Man Award – Jaxson Robinson, BYU
Most Improved Player – Dylan Disu, Texas
Coach of the Year – Kelvin Sampson, Houston
All-Big 12 First Team
Jamal Shead, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS
KEVIN MCCULLAR JR., KANSAS
Dylan Disu, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team
RayJ Dennis, Baylor
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State
Emanuel Miller, TCU
Max Abmas, Texas
All-Big 12 Third Team
Jalen Bridges, Baylor
Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor
J’Wan Roberts, Houston
Pop Isaacs, Texas Tech
Darrion Williams, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school)
Langston Love (Baylor), Yves Missi (Baylor), Dallon Hall (BYU), Spencer Johnson (BYU), Jaxson Robinson (BYU), Fousseyni Traore (BYU), Ibrahima Diallo (UCF), Darrius Johnson (UCF), Jaylin Sellers (UCF), Dan Skillings Jr. Cincinnati), Ja’Vier Francis (Houston), Emanuel Sharp (Houston), KJ ADAMS JR. (KANSAS), JOHNNY FURPHY (KANSAS), DAJUAN HARRIS JR. (KANSAS), Arthur Kaluma (K-State), Tylor Perry (K-State), Javian McCollum (Oklahoma), Jalon Moore (Oklahoma), Javon Small (Oklahoma State), Jameer Nelson Jr. (TCU), Micah Peavy (TCU), Joe Toussaint (Texas Tech)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team
Yves Missi, Baylor
John Newmann III, Cincinnati
Jamal Shead, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
DAJUAN HARRIS JR., KANSAS
Big 12 All-Newcomer Team
RayJ Dennis, Baylor
Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State
HUNTER DICKINSON, KANSAS
Max Abmas, Texas
Darrion Williams, Texas Tech
Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Yves Missi, Baylor
Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor
Joseph Tugler, Houston
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
JOHNNY FURPHY, KANSAS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.
According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.
Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.
On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
No further information has been released.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.
Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.
Police are investigating how the crash happened.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.
Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.
“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.
“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.
The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.
First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.
“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.
Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.
“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.
Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.
But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.
“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”
“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.
Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.
“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.
“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”
It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.
“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.
After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.
“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”
Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.
“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.
“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.
Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.
But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.
“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.
“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.
“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.
The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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