The Big 12 is reportedly close to signing 10-year, $60 million television rights deal with Fox, a $40 million in increase from what it now receives from its cable contract.

The conference’s broadcast rights contract with ABC/ESPN expire after the 2015-16 season.

Two sources indicated that the $60 million might be a low-end projection. A deal could be announced by early April.

Kansas defeated Texas by an 85-73 final in the title game of the 2011 Big 12 Tournament.

Marcus Morris was named Tournament MVP and joined on the All-Tournament team by brother and teammate Markieff Morris, Jordan Hamilton and Tristan Thompson (Texas) and Alec Burks (Colorado).

• Click here to view RealGM’s comprehensive list of 2011 Conference Tournaments.

According to Yahoo! Marc J. Spears, several NBA executives believe the timing of the suspension of Baylor freshman Perry Jones III will have little impact on where Jones goes in the draft.

“He’s a young player being talked about in the top five because of his upside and what he will become – not because he was going to be MVP of the Big 12 tournament,” one Eastern Conference executive said.

Jones was suspended for three payments in the form of a loan made from Jones’ AAU coach to Jones’ mother to help her make mortgage payments two years ago. The loans were repaid.

“Those folks made decisions knowing it could affect [Jones’] future and did it anyway,” the Eastern Conference executive said. “It will be curious to see how quickly he will jettison those who bring him down.”

Baylor freshman forward Perry Jones III has been declared ineligible for a pre-enrollment amateurism violation/preferential treatment, school officials announced before the Bears were to take the floor to face Oklahoma in the opening round of the 2011 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. This is not considered to be an institutional violation of NCAA rules.

Baylor University was informed of the NCAA's decision on Jones III on Wednesday afternoon and immediately appealed to have his eligibility reinstated.

"We are profoundly disappointed in the timing and determination in this matter," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "This outcome appears to be inconsistent with other recent, widely discussed NCAA decisions."

Jones III had no knowledge of three, 15-day loans between his mother and AAU coach that were provided while Jones III was in high school. The loans were repaid in a timely manner, according to interviews conducted by Baylor officials and the NCAA staff. Prior to his enrollment at Baylor, Jones' AAU coach also paid for Jones' travel to a professional pre-season football game in San Diego, Calif.

McCaw indicated that Baylor has been cooperative and transparent in working with the NCAA through this process, and that no Baylor representatives were involved or aware of any preferential treatment between the AAU coach and Jones' family, whose relationship dates to at least the sixth grade.

"Perry is to be commended for being cooperative and forthcoming during this unfortunate process," McCaw said

Jones III, a finalist for the 2011 Wayman Tisdale Award given to the nation's top freshman, earned second-team All-Big 12 honors and leads all Big 12 freshmen in both scoring (13.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (.549).

Perry Jones III will not play for Baylor in Wednesday's Big 12 Tournament game.

A radio station in Kansas City is reporting that Perry Jones' suspension is related to accepting impermissible benefits, and Jason King of Yahoo says Perry Jones is suspended for the rest of the year by the NCAA.

Jones is widely considered a top-five pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

On a per 36 minutes basis, Jones averaged nearly 15 points on 54.8% shooting and 7.5 rebounds for Baylor.

Perry Jones is the top-rated forward projected in the 2011 draft, but has struggled with poor shot selection and a tendency to try to do too much.

The 6-foot-11 forward looks more comfortable floating around the perimeter than he does in the paint, writes ESPN’s Chad Ford, leading scouts to question his drive and toughness.

Marcus Morris of Kansas won the Big 12 Player of the Year Award, while Tristan Thompson of Texas was named Freshman of the Year and Ricardo Ratliffe was Newcomer of the Year.

Joining Morris on the First Team are Alec Burks (Colorado), Marcus Denmon (Missouri), LaceDarius Dunn (Baylor), Jordan Hamilton (Texas) and Jacob Pullen (Kansas State).

On the Second team are Thompson, Markieff Morris (Kansas), Kris Middleton (Texas A&M), Perry Jones (Baylor) and Diante Garrett (Iowa State).

On the Third Team are Gary Johnson (Texas), Cory Higgins (Colorado), Lance Jeter (Nebraska), David Loubeau (Texas A&M), Rodney McGruder (Kansas State) and Marshall Moses (Oklahoma State).

Dogus Balbay of Texas was named Defensive Player of the Year.

• Click here for more award information from the Big 12.

OSU forward LaceDarius Dunn needed just 12 points to become the Big 12's all-time leading scorer, but was held to 7 on 2-of-16 shooting in OSU’s 71-60 over Baylor on Tuesday night.

“You have got to credit them on great defense on Lace,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, “2-for-16 is outstanding defense on him.
“We tried to drive and tried to get him to the free-throw line and unfortunately couldn't get him going that way, either.”

Perry Jones III shot just 2-for-8 from the field and finished with 10 points. Overall, the Bears shot just 35.2 percent from the floor.

Baylor, already on the bubble, fell to 18-11 and 7-8 in conference play.

Tim Hardaway Jr. is one of the most efficient heavy usage scorers in the nation in conference play.

Hardaway Jr. trails only fellow freshmen Jared Sullinger and Perry Jones in offensive rating, according to BigTenNetwork.com.

Offensive rating is a metric used to measure an individual player's efficiency at producing points for the offense. It was created by esteemed statistician Dean Oliver.

Hardaway Jr. averages 13.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in only 29.9 minutes per game.