Chendall Weaver, Brock Cunningham make the case for Dylan Disu as Big 12 Player of the Year

As the end of the regular season draws near, awards are about to be handed out in conferences acorss the country. That includes over in the Big 12 where some are starting to suggest Texas F Dylan Disu as a candidate as the league’s Player of the Year.

Chendall Weaver and Brock Cunningham were asked to make Disu’s case during a postgame press conference after an 81-65 victory over Oklahoma State where the Cowboys’ head coach, Mike Boynton, opined that Disu should be in the running.

To start, Weaver noted Disu’s leadership as his reasoning why. The sophomore feels as though that he has taken him under his wing in his first season in Austin which, to him, has been very valuable this season.

“He’s a great leader,” said Weaver. “I’m a young guy. He always coaches me, coaches me up, telling me what to do.”

As for Cunningham, he pointed out Disu’s defensive ability as another part of his argument. He’s a player that can and does do it all for the Longhorns as a graduate student that’s in his third season on The 40 Acres.

“His defensive prowess is also something that we rely on,” said Cunningham. “Not only can he go score 20 on any given night but he protects the rim, changes shots, has good hands.”

“Just an all-around player,” Cunningham said.

Disu is currently averaging a career-high of 16.8 points on 50.2% shooting from the field and a career-best rate from three at 51.4% on 1.9 makes per game. He’s also posting career-highs with 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals to go with five rebounds and 1.1 blocks a contest.

In 26 minutes per game in 20 appearances, he is Texas’ leader in points by average, steals, and three-point percentage. He’s also second in rebounds and blocks to only Dillon Mitchell and Kadin Shedrick respectively.

In a conference as competitive as the Big 12, several players have a shot at all-conference honors, including Player of the Year. Disu is part of those conversations with two games to go based on his numbers and the impact that many, including his teammates, recognize him for having.

Rodney Terry draws parallel between Chendall Weaver and Tristan Thompson

Despite a push by Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Longhorns were able to take control and win fairly handily. That was, as Rodney Terry later explained, in large part due to the play of Chendall Weaver.

While praising Chendall Weaver after the game, Rodney Terry went so far as to compare him to Tristan Thompson.

“He’s one of those guys – we had Tristan Thompson here. We didn’t run one play for Tristan Thompson while he was here in college. He always reminds me all the time, ‘Coach, you guys didn’t run one play for me.'” said Terry. “But, again, he was a guy that impacted the game at a high level without running any plays for him. He made his own way.” 

“Chendall does the same thing. We don’t really run any plays for Chendall. We run plays for Max (Abmas). You know, we run plays for (Dylan) Disu. But we don’t run any plays for Chendall and he impacts the game at a high level, offensively and defensively. When you have guys like that that can just change the game with their presence and what they do outside from having their numbers called? That’s a big advantage for you.”

Weaver is playing 18.1 minutes per game with six starts in 29 appearances. In those outings, Weaver is averaging 6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.

“He has played well all conference long. Again, but he did it in non-conference too and he does it every day,” Terry said. “He’s one of those guys that, again, I talk about his winning pedigree. He comes from a winning program in high school. That’s all they did was win at a high level. You want guys in your program that come from that kind of background.