In its three decades, the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament has been a showcase for some of college basketball’s — and future NBA — top talent. Former event MVP’s include such stars as future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce and 16-time All-Star Kevin Durant.
But the tournament has never seen anything like what’s coming to T-Mobile Center starting Tuesday.
With NBA mock drafts as a guide, this Big 12 tournament could be the site for more future pro talent than any before it. According to the big boards, as many as 15-20 draft selections will compete in Kansas City this week.
The top two players in the draft could be playing here: freshmen A.J. Dybantsa of BYU and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson. This from a league that has produced three overall No. 1 picks — Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin in 2009, Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins in 2014 and Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham in 2021 — in its three-decade history.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is on his second tour of Big 12 duty, having coached Oklahoma from 1994-2006 and the Cougars now in their third year in the conference. He’s game planned against many future pros, but this season it’s been part of preparation with seemingly every league game.
“I was in the Big 12 with Paul Pierce, Desmond Mason, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nick Collison, coaching against all those guys, and you knew they were pros,” Sampson said. “But you go up and down all these rosters, it’s the depth. It seems like every night you’re going against a pro.”
Or multiple future pros. According to the mocks, Sampson’s Cougars, the tournament’s second seed, and top-seeded Arizona could have three or four players taken among the 60 drafted.
“The best team in the league this year was clearly Arizona, and look at how many pros they have,” Sampson said.
The Wildcats feature potential first-round picks in freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat, with Motiejus Krivas mentioned in some mock drafts.
Dybantsa and Peterson along with Duke’s Cameron Boozer top nearly every mock draft. All are freshmen. So is Houston’s Kingston Flemings, the next Big 12 player projected to be selected, and other possible first-round freshmen Chris Cenac Jr. of Houston and Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou.
The pool of other possible first-round picks includes Texas Tech sophomore Christian Anderson, Iowa State senior Justin Jefferson, Baylor sophomore Cameron Carr.
Also showing up on draft prospects lists, and in some mock first rounds are Kansas’ Flory Bidunga, Houston’s Milos Uzan and Joseph Tugler, Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic and Tamin Lipsey, Arizona’s Jaden Bradley, Arizona State’s Massamba Diop and Cincinnati’s Baba Miller among the top 60.
This doesn’t include injured players appearing in mock drafts, J.T. Toppin of Texas Tech and BYU’s Richie Saunders.
The talent has been reflected in the league’s success. Entering the tournament, five Big 12 teams are ranked among the nation’s top 14: Arizona (2), Iowa State (6), Houston (7), Texas Tech (10) and Kansas (14).
Eight are projected to reach the NCAA Tournament, with BYU, TCU and UCF joining the ranked teams in bracketology.
In Big 12 history, the most players selected in the first round was seven in 2010. Over the entire draft, 10 players — In 2008 and 2010 — is the high watermark.
Last year, four Big 12 players were selected in the draft.
However the draft shakes out in June, this has been a remarkable year for talent in the Big 12.
“This shows you why the league is as good as it is,” Sampson said.
Blair Kerkhoff has covered sports for The Kansas City Star since 1989. He was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.