The Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year was an annual award given to the
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...
's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1956–57 season and concluded after the 1995–96 season (the Big Eight disbanded and was re-formed into the present day
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...
). From 1960 through 1967 no award was given out.
Wayman Tisdale of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
and
Danny Manning of
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
are the only players to have received the award three times. Manning was also the
consensus national player of the year in 1988. Four other players won the award twice, last performed by
Doug Smith of
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
(1990, 1991). Missouri also claimed the most winners with eight, followed by Oklahoma with seven.
Key
Winners
Winners by school
See also
*
Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year – the successor to the Big Eight Conference and its players of the year (although the Big 12 does not recognize Big Eight Players of the Year as their own)
References
{{Men's college basketball award navbox
NCAA Division I men's basketball conference players of the year
Player Of The Year
Awards established in 1957
Awards disestablished in 1996