Marcus Smart has been named the Big 12 Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman to win the award since Michael Beasley in 2008 and Kevin Durant in 2007. Smart also was named Freshman of the Year.

Smart is joined on the All-Big 12 First Team by Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey of Kansas, Rodney McGruder of Kansas State and Romero Osby of Oklahoma.

On the All-Big 12 Second Team are Travis Releford of Kansas, Angel Rodriguez of Kansas State, Markel Brown of Oklahoma State, Will Clyburn of Iowa State and Pierre Jackson of Baylor.

On the All-Big 12 Third Team are Isaiah Austin of Baylor, Oklahoma's Amath M'Baye and Steven Pledger, LeBron Nash of Oklahoma State and Iowa State's Melvin Ejim.

Withey was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

The thirty candidates for Naismith Men's College Player of the Year were announced on Tuesday.

Anthony Bennett, UNLV
Jared Berggren, Wisconsin
Trey Burke, Michigan 
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Ian Clark, Belmont
Rotnei Clarke, Butler
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
Allen Crabbe, California
Seth Curry, Duke
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati
Shane Larkin, Miami
Doug McDermott, Creigton
Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Mike Muscala, Bucknell
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga
Brandon Paul, Illinois
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Otto Porter, Georgetown
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Russ Smith, Louisville
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
Cody Zeller, Indiana 

Wesley Iwundu gave Kansas State a verbal commitment.

“I’m very excited,” Iwundu said in a telephone interview. “It’s the best basketball in the world — the Big 12, you can’t beat that. It’s the best competition and I want to compete against the best.”

Iwundu, a 6-foot-6 small forward, picked the Wildcats over  SMU, where Larry Brown is entering his first year as head coach.

“I have nothing against SMU," said Iwundu, who also received interest from Colorado, Drake, Houston and Texas Tech. “I just want the chance to play in the Big 12.”

Kansas State received an oral commitment from Marcus Foster.

The 6-foot-2 guard made an official visit to K-State last weekend.

"When I got there, I felt like I bonded right away with the coaches and the players," Foster said. "I fit in real good and that's why I made my decision.

Foster averaged 24.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 steals as a junior at Hirschi High School.

"I'm an undersized two but I play very physical," he said. "I can hit the shot, but what most people seem to like about me is my defense. That's the first thing the coaches talked to me about when they started recruiting me."

Trevor Thompson has verbally committed to Virginia Tech.

Thompson is a 6-11 center on the postgraduate team of St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Wisconsin.

"I just love everything about Virginia Tech," he said. "And it's my home state."

Thompson said he also had scholarship offers from Kansas State, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Auburn and Southern California.