The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Kai Jones’ standout sophomore season has been recognised by the Big 12.

Jones was named the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year and became the first Texas Longhorns player in programme history to earn the award.

Jones is tied for second on the team in blocks (19), tied for third in rebounding (4.8 rebounds per game), fourth in steals (22), and sixth in scoring (8.5 points per game) while averaging 22.7 minutes per game. He has hit 56.5 percent from the field (70-124), including a 36.7 percent mark (11-30) from three-point range, and has reached double figures in scoring 10 times in his first 23 games.

His season was highlighted in a January 26 game against the Oklahoma Sooners when he posted his first NCAA double double with 15 points and a career high 10 rebounds.

His numbers increased across the board from his freshman year when he averaged 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

The No. 13/16 Longhorns finished the regular season 17-7, 11-6 in the Big 12 and will begin its postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. They will open play in a quarterfinal-round contest against No. 6 seed Texas Tech on Thursday, March 11 at 9:30pm local time. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2.

On the court, Jones has recently been listed as a highly coveted prospect for the 2021 NBA Draft by several mainstream American publications.

For the projected class of 2021 rankings, ESPN lists Jones at No.16, Sports Illustrated at No.22, Yahoo! Sports at No.23 and NBAdraft.net has him at No.24.

The Sixth Man of the Year award was the second postseason conference honour for the 6’11 forward. Following his freshman season, he was named to the 2019-20 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team.