AMES, Iowa – Iowa State senior guard Monté Morris has been named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, becoming the second Cyclone to earn the recognition. Morris joins Jamaal Tinsley, also a point guard, prior to the 2000-01 season as the only ISU players to be named the league’s top player in the preseason. Tinsley went on to win the award at the end of the season as well.

Morris was also the only unanimous selection to the 2016-17 Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Morris, a Flint, Michigan, native, was second on the Cyclone roster as a junior averaging 13.8 points. An All-Big 12 Second Team choice, he is the top returning scorer in the league this season. He led the Big 12 in assists (6.9) and minutes played (38.0) in 2015-16, while finishing second in steals with 62. He also had the nation’s third-best assist-to-turnover ratio (4.23).

Morris starts his final season at ISU ranked No. 25 all-time at the school with 1,133 career points. He is sixth in assists (551) and eighth in steals (172), with both records well within striking distance.