the NBA draft, the Big 12 is

Gabriel Trevino Columnist

The NBA is a different animal than college basketball.

Players who have decorated college careers who flourish on the court for four years consistently fall short of even making an NBA roster.

NBA teams prefer to draft young, high-upside players who can get a bucket against the best 500 basketball players in the world on a whim or can defend those same players reliably. Most of those guys are one-and-done; top-ranked high school recruits with world-class size and athleticism who only spend one year in college so they can enter the NBA and begin developing their game as a teenager — so hopefully when they’re of a legal drinking age they can make tens of millions of dollars.

The Big 12 doesn’t have many oneand-dones in the conference, but that’s also why it’s the best.

Only two players from the Big 12 were drafted in the first round of Thursday’s NBA draft — Kansas’

Gradey Dick and Baylor’s Keyonte George — both one-and-dones, ironically.

When teams are able to return most of its roster from year-to-year, it allows for more player development, more team chemistry, more experience and understanding of the game.

Texas made it to the Elite 8 with only one underclassman averaging more than 12 minutes per game last year, and none of its stars are projected to be drafted in the first round.

Kansas won a national championship with two first round picks, but they were both upperclassmen who fought for playing time in Lawrence for multiple seasons. The rest of its lineup was also made up of mostly juniors and seniors. Likewise with Baylor’s national championship team, which featured only one first round pick — Davion Mitchell who was a junior.

While programs such as Duke and Kentucky struggle with roster turnover after players jump to the NBA after just one season, Big 12 teams are able to continue building college basketball juggernauts. The last team to win a national championship led by freshmen was Duke in 2015, with first rounders Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow and Tyus Jones. It just doesn’t happen much.

So while Dick and George are the only first rounders from the Big 12, the conference will move on without two allconference second teamers. sports.ed@ocolly.com

Big 12...

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3. Kansas

Devin Neal is one of the best backs in the Big 12 and will have another chance to prove that this season. Neal rushed for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns with 6.05 yards per carry in 2022. Neal had a few big games, most notably versus OSU when Neal had more than 300 yards. Neal also has Daniel Hishaw Jr. backing him up for another season, who had 259 yards and five touchdowns last year.

4. West Virginia West Virginia has a tank at running back. CJ Donaldson Jr. is a 6-foot-2, 240-pound tight end turned running back for the Mountaineers. Donaldson Jr. had four games with 100+ rushing yards to go along with eight touchdowns and six yards per carry as a freshman. Donaldson Jr. battled injuries last season, but a healthy Donaldson Jr. is a top-5 running back in the conference for 2023. He also has some backup with Jaylen Anderson, who rushed for 275 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries.

5. OU With Eric Gray off to the NFL, one of the best recruits in 2022 for OU will have his chance to shine. Gavin Sawchuk saw action in two games last season, but capitalized on it in

OU’s bowl game when he rushed for 100 yards and scored a touchdown.

Jovante Barnes will also contribute to the Sooners’ run game like he did last season where he rushed for more than 500 yards and scored five touchdowns.

6. BYU

BYU has always had a powerful run game, and there will be no change in 2023. BYU adds UNLV transfer Aidan Robbins to a stacked group of backs. Robbins rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored nine times last season. Robbins was an underrated portal pick-up for the Cougars, but they also have three backs -- Colorado transfer Deion Smith, Hinckley Ropati and Miles Davis -- who bolster the ground game.

7. Baylor Baylor’s backfield will feature two Big 12 starters from last season. Richard Reese, the reigning conference offensive freshman of the year, returns after 972 yards and 14 touchdowns. Reese is an explosive back with speed to get past the second level of the defense. Baylor welcomed former OSU starter Dominic Richardson this winter. Richardson had more than 700 total yards and eight touchdowns last season.

8. OSU

OSU may have lost its starter from last season, but the Cowboys have a trio of backs to lift the rushing attack higher in 2023. Ollie Gordon is the probable starter after emerging late in the season, rushing for 308 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman. OSU coach Mike Gundy said in the spring he wants to get back to running the ball more in the fall. Gordon will also have Jaden Nixon and Michigan State transfer Elijah Collins in the backfield helping out. The two combined for more than 500 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 2022.

9. Iowa State Jirehl Brock had high expectations last season after replacing Breece Hall. He showed promise early, but dealt with injuries that limited his season. Brock rushed for 445 yards and three scores. Brock had four games with less than five carries. Brock has both power and speed, like Hall, and will have a healthy start to 2023.

10. UCF

UCF has a decent backfield between R.J. Harvey, who had more than 1,000 total yards last season, and Johnny Richardson, who had 6.9 yards per carry in 2022, but the true factor for the backfield is a former five-star recruit. Demarkcus Bowman first played at Clemson as a bigtime recruit, but has since bounced from Florida to UCF. The defining factor will be if Bowman can use his potential to the max in Orlando.

11. TCU What’s left from the championship game? Max Duggan, Kendre Miller, Emari Demercado and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley are all gone. Emani Bailey is a potential breakout player for the Horned Frogs, he was the third back last season, but still managed to rush for 250 yards with 8.1 yards per carry. TCU also got a former five-star recruit in the portal from Alabama in Trey Sanders. Sanders has dealt with a handful of injuries in college but has all the tools to be a starting running back in the Big 12.

12. Texas Tech sports.ed@ocolly.com

The Red Raiders were at the bottom of the conference in rushing statistics in 2022 and they lost their starting running back SaRoderick Thompson. They didn’t replace him either. Tahj Brooks is expected to take over as the first option. Brooks ran for 691 yards and seven touchdowns on 147 carries. That’s 4.7 yards per carry. Brooks is a small but speedy back who packs a punch with his 5-foot-10, 230-pound frame.

13. Houston Houston brought in Tony Mathis Jr. from West Virginia and looking back, it was a huge addition. The Cougars had Alton McCaskill, a former American Athletic Conference freshman of the year, until he transferred to Colorado in May. Mathis Jr. will be the likely first option at running back for Houston, he rushed for more than 500 yards and scored five touchdowns last season as the Mountaineers’ No. 1.

14. Cincinnati Cincinnati is changing a lot, transitioning to the Big 12 with a new coach, but the running backs didn’t change much for 2023. The Bearcats lost starter Charles McClelland to the NFL, but kept backups Corey Kiner, Ryan Montgomery and Myles Montgomery. Kiner rushed for 362 yards and five touchdowns, while the two Montgomerys combined for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns last fall. With a new staff and system on offense, the running back situation for the Bearcats will be interesting in 2023.