Kansas' Flory Bidunga Earns Multiple All-Big 12 Awards

The Big 12 Conference recognized Kansas forward Flory Bidunga on Monday for his outstanding sophomore season.

Bidunga was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and made the All-Big 12 first team after leading the conference with 2.7 blocks per game and rankings second nationally with 84 blocks. He anchored a Kansas defense that held opponents to a 38.7 field goal percentage, best in the conference.

That made Bidunga the only unanimous selection to the Big 12 All-Defensive team, alongside Arizona's Jaden Bradley and Motiejus Krivas, Houston's Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler, and Iowa State's Tamin Lipsey.

Flory Bidunga Kansas basketball — Kansas Jayhawks forward Flory Bidunga (40) blocks Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) at Allen Fieldhouse. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

It's the ninth time a Jayhawk has won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, joining Dajuan Harris (2023), Marcus Garrett (2020), Joel Embiid (2014), Jeff Withey (2012, 2013), Cole Aldrich (2009, 2010) and Mario Chalmers (2007).

Across 18 Big 12 games, Bidunga averaged 13.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 blocks 1.5 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 66.2% from the field and 63.5% from the free throw line. That earned Bidunga one of 10 spots on the All-Big 12 first team.

Jaden Bradley, Arizona (player of the year)
Brayden Burries, Arizona
Motiejus Krivas, Arizona
AJ Dybantsa, BYU (unanimous)
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Kingston Flemings, Houston (unanimous)
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Flory Bidunga, Kansas
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
JT Toppin, Texas Tech (unanimous)

There were high expectations for Bidunga when he committed to Kansas as a five-star recruit ranked No. 17 overall, No. 4 among centers and No. 1 in Indiana out of Kokomo High School, according to 247Sports. But it still took time for Bidunga to develop into the dominant force he is now.

As a freshman last season, he averaged just 16.3 minutes across 20 games as the backup for front court veterans Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams. It was clear he had the size and athleticism at 6-foot-10 to become a force one day, but he was raw and needed to polish his skills.

That hard work translated to a massive sophomore season for the Kinshasa, Congo native, who's the only Division I player to average at least 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

Now he's one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation's best center, along with Arizona's Motiejus Krivas, Florida's Alex Condon, Michigan's Aday Mara, Nebraska's Rienk Mast, North Carolina's Henri Veesaar, Purdue's Oscar Cluff, St. John's Zuby Ejiofor, UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. and Washington's Hannes Steinbach.