Oklahoma State University Athletics
Nash Named Preseason Freshman of the Year
October 06, 2011 | Cowboy Basketball
Oct. 6, 2011
Stillwater, Okla. -- Oklahoma State freshman Le'Bryan Nash has been named the Big 12 Conference's preseason Freshman of the Year for men's basketball, in a vote of the league coaches, it was announced today by the conference office.
"It's an honor to receive this award, but I'm more focused on helping our team win championships," Nash said when he received the news. "I look forward to working very hard to help Oklahoma State be as successful as possible and to win a lot of games."
Nash is just the fourth Cowboy player to receive a preseason major award in the Big 12 Conference. Desmond Mason won the inaugural award as the preseason Freshman of the Year in 1996. Former Cowboy Adrian Peterson was named the preseason Player of the Year prior to his senior year during the 1998-99 season, and Mario Boggan was named the preseason Newcomer of the Year as a junior-college transfer prior to the 2005-06 season.
Nash also received enough votes by the league coaches to receive honorable mention on the preseason All-Big 12 team.
"Le'Bryan is a very talented individual," said head coach Travis Ford. "This is a nice recognition for him, but I know that he is more concerned about what he can do to help make this team better. He's more interested in helping this team win a lot of basketball games. When the team is successful, the individual honors will come."
Oklahoma State officially opens practice next Friday, Oct. 14. Homecoming & Hoops, OSU's version of Midnight Madness, is slated for Friday, Oct. 28.
The Cowboys have an exhibition game scheduled for Wed., Nov. 2, when OSU hosts Panhandle State. The season officially starts with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi visiting Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday, Nov. 11.
