Marcus Smart and Markel Brown named All-Big 12

Photo Attribution: USATSI

On Thursday Marcus Smart was named the preseason Big 12 player of the year (of course) and he and Markel Brown were tabbed as All-Big 12 first teamers.

All-Big 12 first team

Cory Jefferson (Baylor)
Isaiah Austin (Baylor
Melvin Ejim (Iowa State)
Andrew Wiggins (Kansas)
Marcus Smart (OSU)
Markel Brown (OSU)

Cobbins and Nash were honorable mention.

Apparently a tie in the voting resulted in six guys being on the team (they should have let Self’s vote break the tie)….at least there aren’t 10 like there are on the girls All-Big 12 teams.

Also, Smart is the second OSU player ever to be named preseason player of the year (you probably wouldn’t guess the other one).

DYK? Smart is the second @OSUMBB standout to be the #Big12MBB Preseason Player of the Year (Adrian Peterson, '98-99)

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 3, 2013

According to the Big 12 website, Wiggins is the first freshman ever to be named to the All-Big 12 first team which….uh….Durant?

And here’s another lengthy list.

Players named Big 12 POY who returned to school

Raef LaFrentz (1998)
Marcus Smart (2013)

Smart gets all the headlines (and rightfully so) but I’m glad it’s Markel who is finally on this first-team list over Nash. People are (finally?) starting to realize how talented he is as a player and not just a dunker. Granted, he made the leap just last season, but I’m glad he’s getting some run for it.

Is it inconceivable to think that OSU could have three or four guys on the postseason All-Big 12 team? Like, what if that team was Markel, Marcus, Nash, Cobbins, and Wiggins? That’s not totally 100 percent out of the question, right?

Final note: Kansas has three guys on the first team or honorable mention plus the newcomer of the year in Tarik Black. Yay!