Baylor basketball star earns Big 12 honors after terrific week

After a strong showing against Arlington Baptist, Baylor star freshman Tounde Yessoufou earned Big 12 honors in back-to-back weeks. On Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference announced it's Starting Five that consisted of AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State), Baba Miller (Cincinnati), and Yessoufou.

Yessoufou was also named to the Starting Five last week, and it's his third Big 12 honors this season. Yessoufou also won the Newcomer of the Week back on Dec. 8.

December 3⃣0⃣ @OldTrapper #Big12MBB Starting Five 🏀 pic.twitter.com/Ux8FjOxcMK
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 30, 2025

"The freshman standout for BU played an all-around game against Arlington Baptist on Dec. 29, putting up 28 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists. Yessoufou became the first Baylor player in program history to record a 25-5-5-5 stat line in game and only the second Big 12 player in history to do so with 28 points.

"His 28 points tied his career-bests, going back-to-back games hitting the feat. Additionally, his career-high of six steals tied him for 13thin program history.

"The Cotonou, Benin, native shot 80-percent from the field on Monday afternoon, contributing to Baylor's program-best field goal percentage of 74% as a team. His team-leading 28 points added to the Bears' 124-61 victory, the most points put up in theScott Drewera and the Foster Pavilion. Yessoufou helped Baylor become the first power conference team since 1996-97 to score 110+ points in three consecutive games."

Yessoufou's season so far

Baylor G Tounde Yessoufou — Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Through 12 games, Yessoufou is second on the team in scoring -- trailing Cameron Carr -- averaging 19.3 points per game for the Bears. The high-flying freshman gets nearly six rebounds per game and leads the team, getting 2.3 steals per game.

Yessoufou is still working on his 3-point shot, but that has improved as well. Right now, Yessoufou is averaging 31% from deep.

Baylor will begin Big 12 play this week, starting on Saturday against TCU. The conference is loaded this season and Baylor will need to continue to see Yessoufou mature into a star if the Bears hope to contend for a Big 12 title. With both Carr and Yessoufou playing well, Baylor has a good shot.

Yessoufou's season so far

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