K-State’s 2023-24 Big 12 Athlete of the Year Nominees

By Big 12 Athletics Release June 20, 2024

The 2023-24 Big 12 Athlete of the Year nominees will be featured in alphabetical order by school starting Monday, June 17 through Tuesday, June 25 at 10 a.m. CT and 2 p.m. CT.

Each institution nominated one male and one female athlete of any classification that competed for their institution during the 2023-24 school year. Student-athletes were required to be in good academic standing and had to be from a league-sponsored sport.

The 14 schools that competed during the 2023-24 academic year are eligible.

The winners will be announced Wednesday, June 26. Stay tuned to Big12Sports.com and the league’s social media platforms to see the rest of the candidates.

This afternoon’s featured candidates are K-State’s Cooper Beebe and Ayoka Lee.

K-State Male Athlete of the Year Candidate
Cooper Beebe, Football
Kansas City, Kansas
Accomplishments

  • A 2023 consensus All-American, Outland Trophy Finalist, Lombardi Award semifinalist and the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year for the second consecutive season.
  • Saw time on 945 offensive snaps during the season with 832 of those snaps coming at left guard.
  • Taken with the 73rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.
  • A 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy finalist, a 2023 Academic All-American and a First Team Academic All-Big 12 performer for the fourth time in his career.

K-State Female Athlete of the Year Candidate
Ayoka Lee, Basketball
Sr., Byron, Minnesota
Accomplishments

  • Averaged 19.7 points per game on a .619 field goal percentage with 8.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game after missing the entire 2022-23 season due to injury.
  • Was named a 2024 Second Team All-America selection by the Athletic and a Third Team All-America honoree by the Sporting News along with being named a 2024 John R. Wooden Award National Ballot top-15 candidate.
  • Named a unanimous 2024 All-Big 12 First Team, All-Big 12 Defensive Team and Big 12 All-Tournament Team selection.
  • A 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-American First Team selection along with being chosen to the 2024 Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

2023-24 Big 12 Athletes of the Year Nominees
Baylor – Johnny Keefer and Alexis Brown
BYU – Kenneth Rooks and Brecken Mozingo
UCF – RJ Harvey and Rayniah Jones
Cincinnati – Ty Gingerich and Juliette Laracuente-Huebner
Houston – Jamal Shead and Kelly-Ann Beckford
Iowa State – David Carr and Sydney Willits
Kansas – Clayton Simms and Camryn Turner
K-State – Cooper Beebe and Ayoka Lee