HEAD OF THE CLASS
Houston debuts in Big 12 with 3 remarkable achievements
Mar 13, 2024, 2:46 pm
The Cougars didn't skip a beat after changing conferences. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Houston had no problem adjusting to the Big 12, going right to the top in its new conference.
Cougars senior point guard Jamal Shead was named The Associated Press Big 12 player of the year Tuesday and Kelvin Sampson the league's top coach. The nation's No. 1 team wrapped up its first regular season in the Big 12 by winning the outright conference championship; Houston (28-3) won the American Athletic title the last two years.
Kansas senior center Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-2 transfer from Michigan who was voted the Big 12's top newcomer, and Shead were unanimous AP first-team picks as determined by a panel of 17 journalists who cover the league. Three graduates rounded out the first team, Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr., and Texas teammates Dylan Disu and Max Abmas.
Shead is averaging 13.2 points, 6.2 assists and 2.3 steals a game for the Cougars and is the only player ranked in the top 20 nationally for assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.14 to 1). He got 16 votes for AP top player, and Dickinson got one.
“A point guard’s greatest statistic is did his team win, and Jamal cares more about winning than any individual statistic," Sampson said. "In my 35 years, he is the greatest leader I have ever coached.”
Dickinson is the only Big 12 player averaging a double-double, at 18.0 points and 10.8 rebounds a game and leads the league making 55% of his field goals. He got 15 first-place votes for top newcomer; Oral Roberts transfer Abmas (16.8 ppg) got the other two.
Sampson got nine votes for coach of the year, and T.J. Otzelberger from Big 12 runner-up and seventh-ranked Iowa State got six. The remaining votes were split by Texas Tech's Grant McCasland and BYU's Mark Pope.
FIRST TEAM
u-Center — Hunter Dickinson, Kansas, 7-2, 260, Sr., Alexandria, Virginia.
u-Guard — Jamal Shead, Houston, 6-1, 200, Sr., Manor, Texas.
Guard — Max Abmas, Texas, 6-0, 175, Gr., Rockwall, Texas.
Guard — Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas, 6-7, 212, Gr., San Antonio, Texas.
Forward — Dylan Disu, Texas, 6-9, 225, Gr., Pflugerville, Texas.
—“u-” denotes unanimous selection.
SECOND TEAM
Guard — L.J. Cryer, Houston, 6-1, 200, Sr., Katy, Texas.
Guard — RayJ Dennis, Baylor, 6-2, 180, Sr., Plainview, Illinois.
Guard — Pop Isaacs, Texas Tech, 6-2, 180, So., Las Vegas.
Guard — Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State, 6-1, 200, So., Ames, Iowa.
Forward — Emanuel Miller, TCU, 6-7, 215, Sr., Scarborough, Ontario.
___
Coach of the year — Kelvin Sampson, Houston.
Player of the year — Jamal Shead, Houston.
Newcomer of the year — Hunter Dickinson, Kansas.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Yainer Diaz homered, Josh Hader got the last four outs for his major league-leading 25th save, and the Houston Astros spoiled Shohei Ohtani's 31st birthday, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Saturday.
Ohtani made his fourth mound start of the season, pitching two scoreless innings as he continues to work his way back from elbow surgery. He struck out the side in the second.
Justin Wrobleski (4-3) relieved Ohtani to start the third, and that's when the Dodgers' problems started. Zack Short hit a two-run double as Houston scored four times in the inning. Diaz went deep leading off the fourth, his 11th of the season.
Mookie Betts hit his 11th homer for the Dodgers in the first, and Miguel Rojas' two-run shot in the fourth pulled LA within 5-4.
Jose Altuve led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Hader entered with two on and two out in the eighth and struck out pinch-hitter Esteury Ruiz. In the ninth, he allowed a leadoff single to Ohtani but retired Betts, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman to end it.
Framber Valdez (10-4) struck out seven and allowed four runs in six innings.
Key moment
The Dodgers sent Michael Conforto to the plate to pinch-hit with two out in the eighth, and the Astros brought in Hader. Manager Dave Roberts replaced Conforto with Ruiz, who fanned on Hader's slider.
Key stat
The Astros have scored 24 runs in the first two games of the series. On Friday night, they handed the Dodgers their worst loss in the history of Dodger Stadium, 18-1.
Up next
Astros RHP Ryan Gusto (5-3, 4.90 ERA) will face the Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan (0-0, 2.25) for Sunday’s series finale.