Durant, Gillispie Honored By Big 12 Coaches

IRVING, Texas (AP) _ Texas forward Kevin Durant is named the Big 12 Conference's player of the year by league coaches Sunday, making him the first freshman to receive that honor. <br/><br/>Durant,

Sunday, March 4th 2007, 7:35 pm

By: News On 6

IRVING, Texas (AP) _ Texas forward Kevin Durant is named the Big 12 Conference's player of the year by league coaches Sunday, making him the first freshman to receive that honor.

Durant, who has averaged 28.9 points per game in league play, also received the freshman of the year award, while Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie was chosen as the Big 12 coach of the year.

Other winners of individual awards included Mario Chalmers of Kansas and Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State, who shared the defensive player of the year honor; Stefhon Hannah of Missouri, named the newcomer of the year; and Cartier Martin of Kansas State, who received the league's inaugural sixth-man award.

The league's six-man first-team all-conference list includes Durant, Julian Wright and Brandon Rush of Kansas, Mario Boggan of Oklahoma State, Acie Law of Texas A&M and Jarrius Jackson of Texas Tech.