Jared Butler Named Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year

Jared Butler is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year. The award is voted on by the league’s coaches. Butler was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.

I interviewed Butler in August and asked him what it would mean to get this award. He said, “Means the world to me. Even the awards I got this year were pretty surreal. I’m glad I can represent Baylor. What matters is actually winning though.”

Butler is the third Baylor player to earn the preseason award. Perry Jones won it for the 2011-2012 season and Pierre Jackson won it for the 2012-2013 season.

Mark Vital and MaCio Teague earned honorable mention accolades. The duo each made All-Big 12 teams last year.

From the Big 12 release:

Preseason All-Big 12 Team Jared Butler, Baylor*, G, 6-3, 195, Jr., Reserve, La./Riverside Academy Marcus Garrett, Kansas*, G, 6-5, 195, Sr., Dallas, Texas/SkylineAustin Reaves, Oklahoma, G, 6-5, 206, Sr., Newark, Ark./Cedar Ridge/Wichita StateCade Cunningham, Oklahoma State, G, 6-8, 200, Fr., Arlington, Texas/Montverde AcademyMatt Coleman III, Texas, G, 6-2, 180, Sr., Norfolk, Va./Oak Hill AcademyOscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia, F, 6-9, 260, So., Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo/Kennedy Catholic (Pa.)* Denotes unanimous selection.

A tie resulted in an extra position on the team.

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school):MaCio Teague (Baylor), Mark Vital (Baylor), Greg Brown III (Texas), Courtney Ramey (Texas), Jericho Sims (Texas), Kyler Edwards (Texas Tech), Mac McClung (Texas Tech), Derek Culver (West Virginia)