Trio of Red Raiders earn All-Big 12 postseason honors

LUBBOCK, Texas – A trio of Texas Tech players earned 2023-24 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards with Darrion Williams, Pop Isaacs, and Joe Toussaint securing selections by the league’s head coaches. Williams was named All-Big 12 Third Team and All-Big 12 Newcomer Team while Isaacs earned All-Big 12 Third Team. Toussaint was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection.

Houston’s Jamal Shead was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, while Kelvin Sampson earned selection as Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading the Cougars to the regular-season title. The Red Raiders (22-9, 11-7 Big 12) are the fourth seed in this week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and will play at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center.

Williams led the Red Raiders this season with nine double-doubles and comes into the postseason averaging 11.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. A Sacramento, California native, Williams is a sophomore who is in his first season at Tech after transferring from Nevada. He recorded that ninth double-double with 16 pints and 11 rebounds in the win over Baylor on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for his 10th straight game scoring in double figures. He scored a career-high 30 points earlier this season against Kansas in a game where he was 12-for-12 from the field, 4-for-4 on 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. He also had 11 rebounds against the Jayhawks for a double-double that resulted in him earning AP National Player of the Week honors. Williams started all 31 games this season where he was 124-for-248 (50%) from the field and 41-for-87 (47.1%) on 3-pointers. He leads Tech in rebounding and is third in the Big 12.

Isaacs led the Red Raiders in scoring this season with 16.0 points per game after going for 20 points in the win over Baylor on Saturday in the regular-season finale for his 24th game this year in double figures. A sophomore from Las Vegas, Isaacs led Tech in scoring 14 times this season, including a career-high 32 points in the win over BYU where he was 6-for-9 on 3-pointers. He finished the regular season with 68 total 3-pointers and also added 3.6 assists per game. Isaacs started all 31 games this season and currently has 783 points and 179 assists in his career.

Toussaint earned All-Big 12 honorable mention after leading Tech with 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals along with adding 12.3 points per game. A senior from Bronx, New York, Toussaint started all 31 games in the regular season and led the team in scoring on seven occasions. He most recently led the Red Raiders by matching a season-high with 21 points at West Virginia. Toussaint scored in double figures in 21 games and had three or more assists in 22 games this season. He had a career-high 12 assists in non-conference play against Butler and had nine assists at TCU. For his career, Toussaint has 1,172 points, 504 assists, and 182 steals going into the postseason.

Other awards include: Hunter Dickinson (Newcomer of the Year), Ja’Kobe Walter (Freshman of the Year), Jaxon Robinson (Sixth Man of the Year), and Dylan Disu (Most Improved).