Perry Ellis chosen Big 12 basketball scholar-athlete of the year

On Monday night, Kansas’ Perry Ellis announced that he would be back for his senior season. Three days later, Ellis pocketed some more postseason hardware.

Ellis, a 6-foot-8 forward, was selected as the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches.

Ellis, a two-time Academic All-Big 12 member, averaged 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds during his junior season, earning All-Big 12 first-team honors. Ellis has recorded a 3.25 grade-point average while majoring in Sport Management at KU.

It’s the third year that the Big 12 has selected a scholar-athlete for men’s basketball. Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim won the award the last two years.

Greene’s surgery successful — Kansas sophomore wing Brannen Greene had successful surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip Thursday morning, his father Jeffrey said. The three-hour procedure took place in Nashville, Tenn.

While the original recovery timeline was estimated to be close to five months, Jeffrey Greene said doctors were optimistic about the rehab timeline and said Greene could return to the basketball court in four months. Greene will be on crutches for close to two months before beginning the rehab process, Jeffrey Greene said.

Greene is believed to have suffered the torn labrum in mid-February, his father said.

“Brannen knew he was in some kind of discomfort and pain, and he couldn’t push off his right leg and jump off his right leg and defend,” Jeffrey Greene said. “He just kind of hid it from the trainers and coach (Bill) Self. He just wanted to play.”

Eventually, though, the pain and swelling became too much to ignore. According to Jeffrey Greene, the doctors found no bone spurs during the operation, which could have set back the recovery process.

Greene, who averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 rebounds as a sophomore, will not play in July’s World University Games, where Kansas will represent the United States in Gwangju, South Korea.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Perry Ellis chosen Big 12 basketball scholar-athlete of the year."