Rush earns All Big 12 First Team selection

Brandon Rush found out early Monday morning that he’d been selected to the coaches All Big 12 First Team for the third straight season. Only former Texas Tech player Andre Emmett has matched the feat.

Exciting? Well, uh…

“I didn’t smile at all,” Rush, junior guard, said. “This is my third time getting it. It’s nothing special.”

Coaches also named sophomore forward Darrell Arthur to the All-Big 12 First Team. They put junior forward Mario Chalmers on the second team and senior forward Darnell Jackson on the third team. The Associated Press didn’t select any Jayhawks for its All Big 12 First Team, but Arthur, Rush and Chalmers were second team picks, while Jackson made the third team.

Despite Rush’s lack of positive emotion about his selection, Kansas coach Bill Self was impressed with his player’s achievement. All season long, Self talked about how Brandon Rush became a better player after suffering an ACL injury last May. Rush, who was also named a finalist for the Wooden Award on Monday, has played inconsistently for stretches but led the Jayhawks in scoring during conference play at 13.5 points a game.

Arthur was second on the team in scoring and led the team in rebounding. This is his first selection to an All-Big 12 First Team.

The Associated Press’ choice to not include any Jayhawks on the first team disappointed Self, but he wasn’t surprised because of Kansas’ balanced scoring.

“If I’m a voter and somebody asked me who the best player on our team was,” Self said, “I’d probably change my vote from week to week too.”

The coaches’ other first team selections included Kansas State forward Michael Beasley, Texas guard D.J. Augustin, Baylor’guard Curtis Jerrells and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin. Michael Beasley won Player of the Year Honors.

He won the same distinction from the AP and was joined on the first team by Augustin, Jerrells, Griffin and Nebraska center Aleks Maric.

Other Honors

The Big 12 coaches gave the Jayhawks a few other awards. Sophomore guard Sherron Collins won Sixth Man of the Year, and Chalmers and senior guard Russell Robinson were named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Schnellbacher dies

Former Kansas athlete Otto Schnellbacher passed away at 84-years-old on Monday morning. Self said Schnellbacher had cancer. Schnellbacher played football and basketball at Kansas in the late 1940s. As a wide receiver, he caught 58 receptions for 1,069 yards in his career and played in the 1947 Orange Bowl. He was a four-time all-conference selection in basketball. After college, Schnellbacher, a Sublette native, played in the NFL for the football Yankees and the Giants. He also played one season in the NBA.

“He did so much for KU in so many ways that didn’t garner recognition with the Topeka Jayhawk Club,” Self said. “He was a Jayhawk through and through.”