Former Kansas University basketball standout Nick Collison has been named the Big 12 Conference Male Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday.

Collison’s selection makes Kansas the first school to win two male awards in the seven-year history of the league. Another former KU basketball standout, Jacque Vaughn, was the conference’s first honoree in 1997.

Texas softball pitcher Cat Osterman was named Female Athlete of the Year.

Collison was the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American in guiding Kansas to the NCAA Final Four for the second straight season in 2002-03.

The Iowa Falls, Iowa, native was voted Big 12 Player of the Year by conference coaches. Collison’s 18.5 points per game were second in the Big 12, and his 10.0 rebounds ranked third. Collison ended his career as the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer with 2,097 points.

Off the court, Collison was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 pick. The six-time Jayhawk Scholar was named KU’s Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May.

Also, Collison signed an estimated 1,500 basketballs per year that were sold to the public, and all proceeds went to charity.

The other male nominees were Baylor’s Benedikt Dorsch (tennis), Colorado’s Jorge Torres (track), Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace (football), Kansas State’s Terence Newman (football), Missouri’s Christian Cantwell (track), Nebraska’s Carl Myerscough (track), Oklahoma’s Hollis Price (basketball), Oklahoma State’s Hunter Mahan (golf), Texas’ T.J. Ford (basketball), Texas A&M’s Chris Pinnock (track) and Texas Tech’s Ryan Aycock (football).

Female and male athletes of the year are chosen by a panel of athletic administrators and media. The selections were based on athletic performance and academic achievement with citizenship as a tiebreaker.

Osterman was the winner of the USA Softball Player of the Year as the top collegiate player in the nation last season. The two-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American led the nation in strikeouts per seven innings at 14.1.

Off the field, Osterman was named third-team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American and first-team Academic All-Big 12 last spring.

The other female nominees were Baylor’s Melanie Hagewood (golf), Colorado’s Sara Gorton (track), Iowa State’s Gina Rickert (track), KU’s Gwen Haley (swimming), Kansas State’s Nicole Ohlde (basketball), Missouri’s Christi Myers (volleyball-track), Nebraska’s Richelle Simpson (gymnastics), Oklahoma’s Anda Perianu (tennis), Oklahoma State’s Lauren Bay (softball), Texas A&M’s Selena Collins (softball) and Texas Tech’s Melissa McGehee (volleyball).

• Big TV ahead: The Big 12 hasn’t released its 2003-04 men’s basketball schedule yet, but you can bank on at least a pair of huge TV games — Kansas at Oklahoma State in Bill Self’s return to his alma mater, and Kansas at Missouri to close both the season and Hearnes Center, which will be replaced in 2004-05.

¢ 6Sports video: Nick Collison is named Big 12 Athlete of the Year

KU senior associate AD Richard Konzem, who oversees KU’s schedule, said KU could finish at MU for a third straight year, but nothing was official yet. Missouri has asked league officials to schedule KU for the Hearnes finale.

“I’ve heard through preliminary discussions with the league on some potential TV games and I’ve heard TV has asked for Kansas at Missouri at the end of the year again,” Konzem said. “It would be the concluding game at Hearnes Center — one that makes sense for TV like coach Self’s returning to Oklahoma State — but we have not received the schedule.

“We have heard that the networks are ‘fighting’ over Kansas after back-to-back final four appearances. They want us,” Konzem said.

“The conference office and TV people have to work out how many games CBS gets, how many ABC gets, NBC gets. We don’t have an option on that stuff. As long as it falls within the parameters of the league guidelines, we have no say in where or when the games are played. You can be sure TV thinks Kansas at Missouri in the last game at Hearnes would be a big deal.”

Konzem explained scheduling parameters … “If you play on the road on Big Monday, you must be home the previous Saturday,” he said. “You can’t have any more than two consecutive home or away games to start or end the year and there must be two weeks between home-and-home games played by teams in the North or South so teams don’t play each other twice without at least two weeks passing.

Nick Collison 2002-03 season highlights¢ NABC National Player of the Year.¢ Consensus first-team All-American.¢ Coaches’ Big 12 Conference Player of the Year.¢ Second in Big 12 with 18.5 points per game.¢ Third in Big 12 with 10 rebounds per game.¢ Helped lead KU to second straight Final Four berth.¢ Became Big 12’s all-time leading scorer with 2,097 points.¢ Chosen 12th in the NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics.¢ KU’s Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

“But whether we end the season at home or the road is not something we get to decide.”

• Camp updates: KU coach Self has been in Indianapolis the past couple days for Nike camp.

Self has reportedly been closely watching several players, most notably Kalen Grimes, the 6-foot-9, 260-pounder from Florissant, Mo., who has added Georgia Tech and Oklahoma to a list of schools that also includes Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Grimes told analyst Shay Wildeboor while he would visit all five schools, KU was his heavy favorite.

“If I had to choose a school today, Kansas would be that school,” he said. “I know coach Self very well and Kansas is a great school. I’ve known coach Self since the eighth grade, so I am very familiar with him.”

Self has also been scouting Darnell Jackson, a 6-8, 250-pound power forward from Oklahoma City and close friend of KU signee J.R. Giddens.

Jackson this week added Arizona to a list of schools that also includes KU, Oklahoma, Purdue, Oklahoma State and Illinois. Jackson has visited KU several times unofficially and it’s long been believed he would accept if the Jayhawks offered a scholarship.

Others drawing looks from KU coaches at Nike are A.J. Price, 6-1 from Amityville, N.Y.; Malik Hairston, 6-6 from Detroit; Russell Robinson, 6-2 from New York; Jason Rich, 6-4 from Orlando, Fla.; and Marty Leunen, 6-9 from Redmond, Ore.

Joe Crawford, 6-4 from Detroit and a high school teammate of Hairston, has withdrawn an oral commitment to Michigan and now is considering Michigan and KU, North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Syracuse, Ohio State and Missouri.