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BYU's AJ Dybantsa goes up for a dunk against Pacific in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU guard Richie Saunders, right, comes down with a rebound against Texas Tech during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas.

Chase Seabolt, AP Photo

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BYU's Robert Wright III dribbles to the basket against Colorado in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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The leading scorer in the country earned big honors from the Big 12.

BYU’s dynamic AJ Dybantsa has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, the league office announced on Monday afternoon.

Dybantsa’s numbers were certainly worthy of the award, and perhaps more. The voting for Player of the Year went to Arizona’s Jalon Bradley, who averages 13.4 points per game on a team that has five double-digit scorers and is No. 2 in the AP Poll. An argument could be made for Dybantsa as player of the year, since he draws most of the attention from defenses for the Cougars while Bradley has much more help on the offensive end.

But it’s likely league coaches didn’t want the player of the year to come from a team that finished 9-9 in conference play, and that’s understandable.

Dybantsa becomes the seventh player in program history to earn Freshman of the Year accolades and first since Jonathan Tavernari in 2006-07. He also picked up First Team All-Big 12 and All-Freshman Team accolades.

Richie Saunders (Second Team) and Robert Wright III (Third Team) joined Dybantsa in earning All-Big 12 honors, marking the first time since 2020-21 that BYU had at least three players earn postseason honors.

The nation’s leading scorer at 24.7 points per game, Dybantsa has scored in double figures in all 31 games as a Cougar, including 24 20-point performances, which are tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.

His 766 points are a freshman record and the seventh-most in a single season in program history. The native of Brockton, Mass. is 34 points away from becoming the seventh freshman in NCAA Division I men’s basketball since 2000 to score 800 or more points in a single season.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 25.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in Big 12 play while shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 34.0 percent from three and 74.0 percent from the free throw line. In 18 league games, he scored 20 or more 16 times, including a freshman record 43 points in BYU’s win over Utah on Jan. 24, at the Marriott Center.

Saunders picked up all-league honors for the second straight season as the senior was named Second Team All-Big 12 even after missing the final six games of the regular season.

Prior to tearing his ACL against Colorado, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 18.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from three and 81.7 percent from the free throw line.

The Riverton native scored in double figures 21 times, highlighted by a career-high 33-point performance at Kansas, where he tied a career-high with six 3-pointers. He also had 10 rebounds against the Jayhawks for one of his three double-doubles on the season.

Saunders finished his career 17th on the all-time scoring list with 1,544 points in 128 games, tied for the 19th most games played in program history. He also ranks eighth in 3-point field goals made and attempts, with the 17th highest 3-point field goal percentage.

Wright was named Third Team All-Big 12 after earning honorable mention accolades last season during his freshman season at Baylor. He finished the regular season with the seventh-highest scoring average in the conference at 18.65 points per game.

The 6-foot-1 guard has scored in double figures 28 times, including 13 20-point performances, 10 more than he had at Baylor in 2024-25. Entering the Big 12 Tournament, Wright is shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from three and 82.5 percent from the free throw line, having made his last 18 attempts at the charity stripe. He scored a career-high 39 points in BYU’s overtime victory over Colorado, going 12-of-16 from the field, 4-of-4 from three and 11-of-13 from the free throw line.

He also has a pair of double-doubles this season, with 10 points, 11 rebounds in a win over No. 23 Wisconsin, and 14 points and 12 assists in a win over Cal Baptist. His 12 assists in the win over the Lancers are tied for the 12th most in a single game in program history.

2026 Phillips 66 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