The United States Basketball Writers Association named Johnathan Motley its District VII Player of the Year on Tuesday, and Manu Lecomte joined Motley on the All-District VII team.
Motley becomes the third Baylor player to win USBWA District Player of the Year, following Pierre Jackson in 2013 and Cory Jefferson in 2014.
This marks the 10th consecutive season Baylor has placed at least one player on the All-District VII team and the third straight season multiple Bears were recognized. Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince earned back-to-back All-District honors in 2015 and 2016.
Fourteen different Bears have earned USBWA All-District recognition 18 total times during Scott Drew’s 14 seasons as Baylor head coach. Twelve of those honors have come in the last six seasons.
Motley, a fourth-year junior from Houston, leads the Big 12 with 13 double-doubles and 10.0 rebounds per game, ranks third with 17.5 points per game, fifth with a .517 field goal percentage, 12th with a .729 free throw percentage and 12th with 1.1 blocks per game. He also has 71 assists in 30 games this season, more than the 53 assists he posted in 68 games over his first two seasons combined.
The 6-foot-10 forward’s numbers improved in Big 12 play, where he led the league with 10 double-doubles and 10.8 rebounds per game, and he ranked second in scoring with 18.4 points per game.
Lecomte, a junior who joined the program after spending the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons at Miami, ranks sixth in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage at .414, ninth with 4.0 assists per game, 10th with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio and 16th with 12.4 points per game.
The Brussels, Belgium, native won three Big 12 weekly awards this season. He earned Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 5 and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 14 and Jan. 3. Lecomte tallied Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and third-team All-Big 12 honors on Sunday, becoming the seventh point guard in the Drew era to earn all-conference recognition.
No. 3 seed Baylor takes on No. 6 Kansas State at 8 p.m. CT Thursday in the fourth quarterfinal game at the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The game will be televised on ESPNU and WatchESPN from Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
BAYLOR’S 2017 POSTSEASON HONORS
Manu Lecomte
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year (coaches)
All-Big 12 Third Team (coaches)
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (AP)
Big 12 All-Newcomer Team (coaches)
All-District VII (USBWA)
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (AP)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (coaches)
Big 12 All-Newcomer Team (coaches)
Johnathan Motley
All-America, Second Team (Sporting News)
All-America, Second Team (NBC Sports)
All-America, Third Team (USA Today)
All-Big 12 First Team; unanimous (coaches)
All-Big 12 First Team; unanimous (AP)
District VII Player of the Year (USBWA)
All-District VII (USBWA)
Naismith Trophy Semifinalist (1 of 10)
Wooden Award National Ballot (1 of 15)
Ishmail Wainright
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (coaches)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (coaches)
BAYLOR’S USBWA ALL-DISTRICT PLAYERS
DISTRICT VI
1987 – Darryl Middleton
1988 – Darryl Middleton
1988 – Micheal Williams
DISTRICT VII
2002 – Lawrence Roberts
2003 – Lawrence Roberts
2004 – Terrance Thomas
2005 – Aaron Bruce
2008 – Curtis Jerrells
2009 – Curtis Jerrells
2010 – Ekpe Udoh
2011 – LaceDarius Dunn
2012 – Quincy Acy
2012 – Pierre Jackson
2012 – Perry Jones III
2013 – Pierre Jackson*
2013 – Isaiah Austin
2014 – Cory Jefferson*
2015 – Rico Gathers
2015 – Taurean Prince
2016 – Rico Gathers
2016 – Taurean Prince
2017 – Johnathan Motley*
2017 – Manu Lecomte
* - District Player of the Year
