photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Hunter Dickinson goes up for a shot during the game between Kansas and the Bahamas in Puerto Rico on Aug. 5, 2023.

Expectations are high for Kansas men’s basketball center Hunter Dickinson this season, and the Big 12 Conference community got an early look at just how high when Dickinson received a pair of notable honors Thursday.

Big 12 head coaches made Dickinson the first player in league history selected as both preseason player of the year and preseason newcomer of the year in the same season.

Dickinson certainly has the resume to back up that recognition, as a high-level scorer and rebounder from the moment he arrived at Michigan as a freshman in 2020. The 7-foot-2 center from Alexandria, Virginia, most recently averaged 18.5 points and nine rebounds in 34 starts for the Wolverines last season, before transferring to KU in May.

The addition of such a productive player from the transfer portal to an established group of starters that includes KJ Adams Jr., Dajuan Harris Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. has many analysts projecting the Jayhawks as the No. 1 team in the nation ahead of the 2023-24 season. The Big 12’s own league-specific preseason poll will come out Friday, ahead of its media day next Wednesday.

Harris and McCullar also received recognition on Thursday’s all-conference team, with the point guard Harris selected as a first-team member alongside Dickinson and McCullar earning an honorable mention.

Harris was last year’s Big 12 defensive player of the year and an all-conference honorable mention, and McCullar was a third-team and all-defensive selection, though head coach Bill Self has forecasted significant improvement from McCullar in the upcoming campaign. Dickinson earned some form of all-conference honor from the Big Ten each of his first three seasons.

“I appreciate the coaches recognizing myself, Dajuan and Kevin,” Dickinson said in a press release. “It says a lot about the potential of our team. Now we need to go prove it.”

Dickinson becomes the 11th Jayhawk to earn preseason player of the year recognition and fifth-ever newcomer of the year.

The rest of the first team contains Max Abmas of Texas, L.J. Cryer of Houston and Emanuel Miller of TCU. Other honorable mentions include Jalen Bridges (Baylor), RayJ Dennis (Baylor), Ja’Kobe Walter (Baylor, also the freshman of the year), Jamal Shead (Houston), Arthur Kaluma (Kansas State), Tylor Perry (Kansas State), Dylan Disu (Texas), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), Dillon Mitchell (Texas) and Jesse Edwards (West Virginia).

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Guard Dajuan Harris Jr. of the Kansas Jayhawks during the game between Kansas and the Puerto Rico Select team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Aug. 3, 2023.

Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. pulls up for a three against Nicolas Timberlake during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug