Six players from the Big 12 have been placed on the Lute Olson Award mid-season watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I player who has played at least two seasons. The Big 12’s six student-athletes were the most of any conference.

Rico Gathers (Baylor), Monté Morris and Georges Niang (Iowa State), Perry Ellis (Kansas), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) and Devin Williams (West Virginia) have all earned a spot on the list.

Gathers leads the conference in rebounds (eighth in NCAA), averaging 11.3 boards per game. Williams sits fifth in the Big 12 rebounds (8.6 per game) while also scoring 14.7 points per game, good for eighth in the league. Monté Morris tops the conference in assists, averaging 7.43 per contest (fifth in NCAA).

Hield, Niang and Ellis are first (26.3 points per game), second (19.2 ppg) and fourth (16.1 ppg) respectively in scoring in the Big 12, with Hield’s mark good for second in all of D1 college basketball.

The recipient of the 2016 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Award Presentation on April 1 in Houston, site of the men’s division I national championship.