Oct. 9, 2007

Baylor guards Curtis Jerrells and Aaron Bruce received preseason All-Big 12 honors following a vote by league coaches, the conference office announced Tuesday. Jerrells was selected to the six-man All-Big 12 team, and Bruce was one of 10 honorable mention picks.

Jerrells, a third-year starter at guard for Baylor, is joined on the All-Big 12 team by Darrell Arthur (Kansas), Brandon Rush (Kansas), Aleks Maric (Nebraska), D.J. Augustin (Texas) and Joseph Jones (Texas A&M).

Jerrells is just the second Baylor player to be named to the Big 12 preseason team, joining Brian Skinner who was honored in 1997-98.

A candidate for the 2008 Bob Cousy Award given to the nation's top point guard, Jerrells led the Bears last season in scoring (15.0 ppg), assists (3.8 apg) and minutes (32.9 mpg) and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection. Jerrells led Baylor with a 13.5 scoring average as a freshman in 2005-06.

Bruce is a senior who has started all 74 games played at Baylor and is a three-time All-Big 12 honoree. Last season he became the 19th Baylor player to top the 1,000-point career plateau and he currently stands 15th all-time on the school's scoring list (1,060 points). Bruce was selected to Dick Vitale's 2007-08 preseason All-Rolls Royce (All-America) fourth team and was named by The Sporting News as the Big 12's "Best Leader" in its preseason publication.

The Bears tip off the season Nov. 2 when they host Tarleton State in an exhibition game. The regular-season opener is Nov. 11 vs. Jackson State at the Ferrell Center.

2007-08 PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM

    Name, School                         Pos.  	Ht.  	Wt.  	Cl.   	Hometown/Previous School(s)
    Curtis Jerrells, Baylor 	G  	6-1   	205    	Jr.    	Austin, Texas/Del Valle
    Darrell Arthur, Kansas          	F    	6-9   	230  	So. 	Dallas, Texas/South Oak Cliff
    Brandon Rush, Kansas        	G    	6-6  	210     	Jr.   	Kansas City, Mo./Mount Zion Academy [N.C.]
    Aleks Maric, Nebraska         	C  	6-11    	275    	Sr.   	Syndney, Australia/Life Center [N.J]
    D.J. Augustin, Texas          	G  	6-0    	180    	So.   	New Orleans, La./Brother Martin
    Joseph Jones, Texas A&M     	F    	6-9    	250    	Sr.     	Normangee, Texas/Normangee

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school): Aaron Bruce, Baylor; Richard Roby, Colorado; Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins, Kansas; Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, Kansas State; Marcus Dove, Oklahoma State; Josh Carter and DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M; Martin Zeno, Texas Tech