Mizzou's Ricardo Ratliffe enters the Big 12 with some lofty honors.
The Big 12 announced on Thursday that he has been named the Big 12 newcomer of the year.
Ratliffe is the third student-athlete from Missouri to be recognized in the preseason as the top newcomer. He is one of just 13 players to earn back-to-back NJCAA All-America First Team honors in the history of junior college basketball. The Hampton, Va.-native set a school career scoring record at Central Florida Community College with 1,653 points.
His teammate Tony Mitchell isn't in town yet but it sounds like those two could be quite the force if Mitchell can return at semester.