I went ahead and voted for Colorado’s Tad Boyle as Big 12 Coach of the Year and Alec Burks as player of the year because:
1. The Buffs were picked ninth in the preseason coaches poll and will be the No. 5 seed at the Big 12 Tournament. Boyle deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team together and getting Jeff Bzdelik’s players to buy into his vision for the program.
2. Burks, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year, has had a spectacular sophomore season. His team swept Jacob Pullen’s Kansas State team and Burks was the best player on the court in wins over Texas and Missouri. The Morris Bros. at Kansas are a more dominant 1-2 punch, but the vote was for one player of the year.
Here is my 2010-11 Associated Press ballot:
—
FIRST TEAM:
1)_Jacob Pullen, G, Kansas State
2)_Alec Burks, G, Colorado
3)_LaceDarius Dunn, G, Baylor
4)_Marcus Morris, F, Kansas
5)_Jordan Hamilton, F, Texas
SECOND TEAM:
1)_Diante Garrett, PG, Iowa State
2)_Cory Higgins, G, Colorado
3)_Marcus Denmon, G, Missouri
4)_Markieff Morris, F, Kansas
5)_Tristan Thompson, F, Texas
COACH OF THE YEAR:_Tad Boyle, Colorado
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:_Alec Burks, Colorado
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:_Ricardo Ratliffe, Missouri
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:_Tristan Thompson, Texas
—
