Seen and heard at Big 12 Media Days: On Murauskas-Krivas friendship, Toppin's return and five-for-five madness

But now the Lithuanian forward will get to say hello again to Motiejus Krivas at least twice this season ... since he has transferred to ASU.

“God has a plan for everything,” Murauskas said, smiling, during a Big 12 media day small-group interview. “I’m excited.

Murauskas said he and Krivas became best friends while playing for the Lithuanian national team program and the well-regarded Zalgiris club as they grew up. Later, they decided to enroll together at Arizona in the summer of 2023.

However, while Krivas moved immediately into a backup center role behind Oumar Ballo during the 2023-24 season, Murauskas was boxed out of the Wildcats' rotation in part because Keshad Johnson started at power forward, Pelle Larsson started at small forward and also played at power forward — while guard KJ Lewis also ate up some other small forward minutes.

So, despite showing signs of promise during the 2023-24 preseason, and having experience on Lithuania’s highest level professionally during the 2022-23 season, Murauskas averaged just 7.3 minutes per game as a freshman (and only 2.9 in Pac-12 games).

Then he went to Saint Mary's in 2024-25 and became an all-WCC player each of the next two seasons under coach Randy Bennett.

Bennett, who left Saint Mary's to take over ASU this season, offered a simple explanation why.

“Playing time,” Bennett said. “That’s how you get good.”

On stage during ASU’s appearance Tuesday, Murauskas said following Bennett to Saint Mary's was the right move because Bennett was a “really great coach” who helped him improve each of the past two seasons.

Now he's expected to lead the Sun Devils.

“The environment is different but we’re gonna keep the same playing style,” Murauskas said. “We’re gonna be gritty on the boards, be a good defensive team, maybe play a little bit slower tempo. I think we're gonna be good for this league, and we're gonna just compete as hard as we can.”

Self deprecating 

Health scares may have prompted Kansas coach Bill Self to reevaluate his future after last season, but he returned in typical form Tuesday during the first of two Big 12 media days.

Told that many people were concerned over his health scares last season because he’s a “beloved figure” within the Big 12, Self laughed it off.

“Well, I’ve never heard anybody in Manhattan call me beloved,” Self said of Kansas State’s hometown. “But actually, I feel good. I’m excited to coach this group because I think this groiup wants to be coached.”

Later, when asked about his legacy, whether he winds up being in his final season or not, Self also humorously directed the question elsewhere.

“You know what? I don't even think that I'll think about the question,” he said. “It's a good question, but what is my legacy? Hopefully, it’s what we do this year and what we do next year. There's a lot of great coaches in this league, as you guys know. It's a coaches' league, and there's a lot of terrific talent.

“The reality of it is that this league's going to remain good because of the people that are in charge of their respective programs. So I'm not really concerned about that, and I'm certainly not thinking like it's my last.

"I know I'm on the back nine. But whether it's 14 or 16, I don't know what hole I'm on right now, and a lot depends on how we feel. And as long as we play well, I'll feel a lot better.”

Needle threading

The Big 12’s four-paragraph statement in August that it is banning former pro athletes from the conference left a lot of room for interpretation, so commissioner Brett Yormark offered some Tuesday.

The conference stated that no Big 12 school would be allowed to roster an athlete who has declared for a draft of a pro sports league, been listed on the roster of a professional sports league or signed a contract with any pro sports league.

But after clarifying in his main stage address Tuesday that the rules do not apply to those arriving in college — only to former collegians who went pro and then tried to play in the Big 12 — Yormark was asked about Kansas adding former Purdue forward Trey Kaufmann-Renn, who was drafted 59th by Minnesota and played for the Timberwolves' summer league team but did not sign a standard NBA contract with the team.

“He was automatically put in the draft. He didn’t declare for the draft,” Yormark told the questioner. “That was the distinction. Just so you know.”

Kaufmann-Renn is aiming for a sixth season of college basketball, having been granted a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the NCAA.

Toppin back ‘very, very soon’

While questions over five-for-five players such as Arizona’s RJ Godfrey and three Texas Tech players were frequent as expected during Big 12 media days, Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland said that hasn’t been his normal experience.

“The five-for-five topic seems to be consistent but ‘Is JT going to be healthy and when?’ is the only question I get asked more,” McCasland said.

Of course, McCasland was referring to forward JT Toppin, the Big 12’s MVP in 2024-25, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear just a game after helping the Red Raiders hand Arizona one of its only three losses last season.

Sitting with Toppin and two other TTU players on the T-Mobile stage, McCasland noted that “everybody can ask” Toppin themselves, and the Big 12 moderator solicited the first response. Texas Tech has not specified an exact timeline, though Toppin has been expected back at some point this season.

“I feel like I'm great right now,” Toppin said. “My trainer, big Mike (Neal, TTU’s director of sports medicine), shout-out to him, he's been helping me along the way. He says I'm right on schedule, where I need to be.

“I've been taking it slow. The coaching staff has been supporting me through this process. I feel like I'll be coming back very, very soon.”

Stoked

In addition to main stage interviews, the Big 12 put players and coaches mostly around small tables for 20-minute interview sessions, but that didn’t mean media were guaranteed to be able to ask a question.

Or hear the response.

At least that was the case with mega-hyped Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes, who has been largely kept away from Kansas media until Tuesday — and attracted a media crowd three rows deep when he showed up.

So, while we couldn’t hear a word Stokes said, some left impressed.

“He seems like a nice guy,” one reporter said.

Big number

7: Big 12 women’s basketball teams to make the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons

Another big number

65: The Big 12’s increase in partner revenue over last year, according to commissioner Brett Yormark, whose recent deals included a reported $20 million multi-year deal with Monster Energy.

Quotable

“These guys I have here are all great kids and trying to reach the goals that they set out for themselves and their team. So all that stuff's the same. It's just there's money involved and they should get money. I don't know what the right amount is in that, and neither does anybody else.” — Bennett

Quotable (again)

“The Big 12 remains the second-best basketball league behind only the NBA. I think I said that last year, but I'm going to say it again this year.” —Yormark