Big Ten Awards

18 teams. Very limited spots. Let's have some fun

We have finally now made it. 180 Big Ten games are in the books. Congrats to Michigan State on a dominant Big Ten performance, winning the Big Ten by 3 games. It really was a special year and team that Izzo has put together.

With the addition of Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA, it has become only more difficult to figure out who I would pick for these post season awards. There are a few I think are locks, but the majority I would say I would be willing to discuss others taking the spots of players I discuss. To put it one way…

There are 18 teams in the Big Ten. For me, I will have 5 players on the first, second, and third all conference teams each. That means at *minimum* three schools will not have any representatives. And that is just basic math. Now add in that talent and results aren’t evenly distributed and things are going to get really weird. I’ll do my best to explain my reasoning.

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Okay, enough self promoting, let’s get into the actual awards.

Table of Contents

• “How Was He Ranked This Low” Award

• 6th Man of the Year

• Coach of the Year

• Transfer Team

• Freshmen Team/Freshman of the Year

• Defense Team/Defensive Player of the Year

• All Big Ten Teams (1st, 2nd, and 3rd)/Player of the Year

• The Underrated Team (basically me just shouting out Big Ten players)

“How Was He Ranked This Low” Award

Winner - CJ Cox, Purdue - ranked #272

This award goes to a freshman that it makes no sense he was ranked as low as he was by recruiting agencies coming into the year. In the preseason, it was between CJ Cox and KJ Windham as my two preseason award recipients.

Per 247 Sport Composite, CJ Cox was ranked #272 in last year’s high school class, and that was after Purdue offered him. He had no other high major offers, and it was just by chance that Matt Painter stumbled onto him.

CJ Cox averaged 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.7 steals a game while shooting 55.7% from 2 and 39% from 3. He also has started 18/31 games this season and averages 18.7 minutes a game.

Cox has shown the ability to take over a game like he did in the two minute span against Alabama where he scored 11 straight points. No, CJ won’t make the Freshman team this year (it is ultra stacked). But both when I watched his film last off season and now that we are through the regular season, I have no clue how he was ranked in the low 200s.

Past Recipients - John Blackwell, Wisconsin - ranked #211

6th Man of the Year

Winner - Jase Richardson, Michigan State

My criteria before looking up any players for this was that the player must’ve started in less than 33% of their games. Jase Richardson has played 30 games and only started in 9 of them. That comes out to 30%.

While coming off the bench (ignoring the games he started), Richardson averaged 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, shot 40% from 3 and 59% from 2. So ignoring the games that he started, Richardson still put up really good numbers off the bench.

Runner Up

• Kamari McGee, Wisconsin

  I’m not going to go in depth for all runner ups, but I felt I needed to with this one. With Richardson blossoming as a full on super star and starting the last 9 games of the season, I wouldn’t be mad at all if McGee won the award. He averaged 6.7 points, 1.9 assists, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals while shooting over 50% off the bench. He came off the bench in 27 of 31 games.

Coach of the Year

Winner - Tom Izzo, Michigan State

To me, it’s as simple as one thing. If you win the Big Ten by three games, you should automatically win the award. Add on top of it that most (especially including me) didn’t have the Spartans ranked too high in the preseason and that this roster is a 10 man roster, there seems to be really clear evidence that this award should go to Izzo. I can’t say enough of the job he has done this year.

If you want to read more about how Michigan State won the Big Ten, click below.

Runner Ups

• Greg Gard, Wisconsin

• Dusty May, Michigan

Transfer Team

John Tonje, Wisconsin - Transfer of the Year

• We’ll talk more about it later, but the simple case for John Tonje is that he was a top 3 player in the conference. He has an All-American case, and was arguably the best pure scorer in the conference this season.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Maryland

• To me, he was the most important player for Maryland and probably a top 2 point guard in the conference.

Vladislav Goldin, Michigan

• There were not many better big men than Goldin this year.

Danny Wolf, Michigan

• What can Danny Wolf not do? At 7 feet tall he essentially played the point guard spot at times and was unstoppable in moments this season.

Desmond Claude, USC

• I want to give some credit to Claude. He was the leader of a USC team that ultimately didn’t have a fantastic record, but they looked dead in the water early in the season until he really took over. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.6 rebounds a game.

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Freshmen Team/Freshman of the Year

I just wanted to add a quick note. This freshmen class is ELITE!!!!! There will be multiple lottery picks, and there were a ton of productive guys. I truly believe that there are 10-12 freshmen this year that would’ve made the freshman team last season. In any normal year, I think the first 6 guys I listed would win freshman of the year like 60+% of the time.

Freshman Team

Derik Queen, Maryland - Freshman of the Year

• 15.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.0 blocks, 56% from 2

Derik Queen will come up later in this article, but he was nothing short of awesome. He was one of the elite rebounders in the conference while being one of the best scorers as well. The passing ability showed up as one of the best passing bigs.

Jase Richardson, Michigan State

• 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, 59.9 2P%, 38.8 3P%

Jase will come up once more (spoiler), so I’ll keep this explanation short. He was the best player on the best team in the conference. Winning matters less to me for the freshman team, but if you can impact winning in the way he did on the best team, that matters.

Dylan Harper, Rutgers

• 19.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 57.6 2P%, 35.0 3P%

What is there to say. He at one point in time looked like the best freshman in the country and had an argument to be the number one overall pick. Illness/injuries slowed him down some, but at his peak, he was maybe the most unstoppable player in the conference. He had total control of the game in both scoring and facilitating.

Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois

• 15.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals, 57.6 2P%, 33.1 3P%

Jakucionis showed just why he is going to be a one and done lottery pick. Very few point guards in the conference had the ability to create with the ball like he did this year. He loved the step back three and it became a go to. He could make almost any pass you wanted while also being a legit threat at the rim, and quietly a solid defender in my opinion.

Ace Bailey, Rutgers

• 18.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 51.2 2P%, 35.4 3P%

Ace Bailey averaged the most points out of all freshmen, and he averaged the 7th most points in the conference. Bailey was an incredibly tough shot maker, and he still ended up with good shooting splits despite the shot selection. He also provided good rebounding and rim protection. College basketball players aren’t supposed to be able to make the kind of shots he made this year.

Honorable Mentions (Basically just a 2nd team so I can shoutout this insane class)

• Wesley Yates, USC

• John Mobley, Ohio State

• Will Riley, Illinois

• Zoom Diallo, Washington

• CJ Cox, Purdue

Again, this freshman class was insane. I had ACE BAILEY not even make the team (please don’t yell at me too hard). He would win Freshman of the Year probably in 80% of seasons. This class was stupidly good.

Defense Team/Defensive Player of the Year

In the stats below, Defensive Rating (##) is just what a teams defensive rating is while that player was on the floor. Defensive rating is how many points the opposing offense scores per 100 possessions. The number following the percentile in the country that defense is when he is on the floor.

With defensive stats even more than offensive stats (although offensive stats need it too), there is a ton of context needed. I don’t think raw numbers do the best job of telling how good a player was or not.

Defense Team

Nate Bittle, Oregon - Defensive Player of the Year

• Defensive Rating - 102.7 (82%ile), 8.9 block rate, 2.2 blocks, 0.7 steals, 5.3 defensive rebounds

This one was a tough one. I ultimately went with Bittle because of just how important he was defensively to Oregon. When he was on the floor this season, Oregon had a 102.7 defensive rating. When he was off the floor, Oregon had a defensive rating of 110.1, which would be in the 38th percentile. Why was he so important? Look no further than Oregon’s rim protection. With Bittle in the game, teams shot 56.4% at the rim, which is in the 93rd percentile defensively. With Bittle out of the game, teams shot 67.7% at the rim which would be a 10th percentile defense. Teams also shot 51.9% in the paint outside the rim with Bittle off the floor, which would be the worst rim defense in the country. He was the most dominant rim protector, and truly the biggest reason a defense held together a lot.

Kobe Johnson, UCLA

• Defensive Rating - 99.6 (91%ile), 3.5% steal rate, 1.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, 4.1 defensive rebounds

If you were to ask me, pick one player to start your defense with, I am picking Kobe Johnson. He was asked to do a lot, and he was asked to cover a lot of gaps in the UCLA defense. For example, when they played Michigan, UCLA strategically put him in the weakside corner so he could use his quick hands to “protect the rim” by stripping Goldin on his way up. Nobody in the conference had quicker hands than him, and he could legitimately guard 1-4 depending on the matchup.

Femi Odukale, Minnesota

• Defensive Rating - 104.3 (74%ile), 1.5 steals, 1.2 blocks, 3.1 defensive rebounds, 4.5 block rate, 3.1 steal rate

If we are being 100% honest, Odukale has a claim at Defensive Player of the Year. There were only 18 players in the entire country that had a block rate over 4.0 and a steal rate over 3.0. He truly was one of the most versatile defenders in the conference, and he quite literally covered every hole in this defense. When Odukale was on the floor, Minnesota had a defensive rating of 104.3, which was in the 74%ile. When Odukale was OFF the floor, Minnesota had a defensive rating of 122.1, which would be in the 2nd%ile.
Minnesota went from a top 25% defense in the country with him on the floor to a bottom 10 defense in the country with him off. Numbers are far from everything defensively, but when you combine that with what he did on the floor, I think it ends up being hard to keep him off this list.

Jaden Akins, Michigan State

• Defensive Rating - 96.7 (96%ile), 0.8 steals, 0.3 blocks, 3.6 defensive rebounds

Akins is a player that the defensive numbers wouldn’t necessarily pop right away. He averaged under a steal per game, but he still the best perimeter defender in the conference. Michigan State was an elite defense, and Akins was the best defender on this team due to his ability to navigate screens and apply on ball pressure. He helped really set up the rest of their defense.

Tre Holloman, Michigan State

• Defensive Rating - 99.4 (92%ile), 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks, 1.7 defensive rebounds

Basically copy and paste what I said above for Jaden Akins. These two were among two of the absolute best perimeter defenders in the conference, and in my opinion, really anchored the defense because of that. He was a menace on ball defensively that navigated screens super well, and he seemed to rarely get beat both on and off the ball.

Honorable Mentions

• TJ Bamba, Oregon

• Anthony Leal, Indiana

• Yanic Niederhauser, Penn State

• Julian Reese, Maryland

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All Big Ten Teams (1st, 2nd, and 3rd)

3rd Team

Nick Martinelli, Northwestern

• 20.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 49.3 2P%, 35.2 3P%

Nick Martinelli helped will this Northwestern team, that battled every obstacle, to the record they have. He’s an unorthodox player, relying a lot on tough floaters and shots from the mid range. He even jumps on his free throws. But there is no denying just how incredible he was as he was one of the leading scorers in the country. This junior will be one of the best players again in the Big Ten next year.

John Blackwell, Wisconsin

• 15.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 53.7 2P%, 32.6 3P%

Blackwell took over the reigns as point guard and blossomed into a truly elite player. There few better players than him scoring in all 3 levels. He was a great driver, and could knock down plenty of jumpers. On top of that, I think he was a solid defender throughout the year.

Bruce Thornton, Ohio State

• 17.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 54.3 2P%, 42.6 3P%

What is there to say about him. He took a great year last year and only improved on it. Despite getting even more defensive attention this season, Thornton shot better from both 3 and 2 this season. He maintained the level of distributing he has had while also not turning the ball over a lot. He had one of the highest offensive ratings in the country.

Dylan Harper, Rutgers

• 19.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.4 steals, 57.6 2P%, 35.0 3P%

The year didn’t go how Rutgers wanted it to, but Dylan Harper was unstoppable. These averages include 1-3 games where he was still battling back from illness and wasn’t 100%. When he wanted to get to the rim, nobody could stop him in both the half court and transition. He also shot the three well despite having a tough shot diet that often included a lot of step backs. He was tasked with the world, and he held up for the most part.

Dawson Garcia, Minnesota

• 19.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.9 blocks, 52.7 2P%, 36.2 3P%

Dawson Garcia somehow improved his numbers after last season. He was option 1, 2, and 3 offensively, and he was still very efficient from the field. The facilitating impressed me too. Garcia at 6’11 imposed matchup nightmares on a nightly basis, while being the biggest reason Minnesota was able to turn their season around.

2nd Team

Derik Queen, Maryland

• 15.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.0 blocks, 56.0 2P%

Derik Queen was one of the most versatile offensive players while also being one of the best rebounders. He wasn’t the best on ball defender, but his quick hands helped out a lot. Derik Queen was a played you could ask to do more or less anything, and he was so elite at getting into the paint and finishing. His presence really helped open up an offense that complemented him well.

Brice Williams, Nebraska

• 20.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, 53.7 2P%, 36.2 3P%

Brice Williams averaged the most points per game in the Big Ten. When you talk about someone carrying the offense, he CARRIED the Nebraska offense. What was the most impressive is how efficiently he did it. He shot both well from 3 and 2, and he was a very good facilitator on top of it

Danny Wolf, Michigan

• 12.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.4 blocks, 58.2 2P%, 34.8 3P%

Danny Wolf was a 1 of 1. No other 7 footer runs pick and rolls like him. No other 7 footer makes passes like him. He could run the offense as a 7 footer and be able to create anything he wanted for both himself and his teammates. He also was a solid defender, and a very important one to Michigan by helping protect the rim and being an elite defensive rebounder.

Jase Richardson, Michigan State

• 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, 59.9 2P%, 38.8 3P%

Winning matters to me and my awards. They just do. Michigan State was the best team in the conference. Jase Richardson was the best player on Michigan State. Jase Richardson gives the Spartans a ceiling they didn’t have before. As a freshman, he was one of the craftiest finishers in the league. He also was one of the better shooters

Vladislav Goldin, Michigan

• 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, 66.4 2P%, 36.0 3P%

If Danny Wolf was the engine for this Michigan team, Vladislav Goldin was what helped keep it all together. He has elite hands for a big, and the coordination to pair was awesome. He would make so many tough catches on the move that resulted in points, catches that most bigs wouldn’t make as consistently as him. He was a problem for defenses in the post, and he even extended the range a bit from 3. Goldin was the anchor for the defense, playing a deep drop coverage well pretty much all year long.

1st Team

Player of the Year - Braden Smith, Purdue

Braden Smith, Purdue

• 16.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 48.6 2P%, 39.7 3P%

Magic Johnson averaged 8.4 assists per game during his last year at Michigan State. That was the most assists per game in Big Ten HISTORY. Braden Smith is now breaking that record.

He quite literally has done something that no one in the Big Ten history has. He is arguably the best passer in the country, and he was given the opportunity to run pick and roll after pick and roll. What stands out as much as the wizard like passing is that the turnovers didn’t increase. He actually decreased his turnover rate from last season.

The scoring took a huge jump. He shot 67.7% at the rim, 41.2% from the mid range, and 39.7% from 3. All of those are above D-1 average. He became an absolute killer in the mid range. With the scoring and facilitating, it was incredibly difficult to take rid of both of those in a game for a defense.

He affected the game in so many ways. He has the highest assist rate in the country. He was an elite jump shooter. And he also ranked 3rd in steal percentage in the Big Ten. His off ball defense is among the best in the conference.

Not too bad for someone that was supposed to be “Zach Edey made”

John Tonje, Wisconsin

• 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 54.1 2P%, 37.8 3P%

John Tonje is a bucket. It’s as simple as that. He was going to put the ball in the hoop no matter how hard a defense tried. He was a legit 3 level scorer, but his ability to finish around the rim was unreal. He would find gaps in the defense that I don’t even think the defense would recognize. If you closed out too hard on Tonje, he was either getting to the rim or getting to the foul line where he shot 91.6% on the year. If you let Tonje shoot, he would make you pay from the perimeter. He truly was unguardable.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue

• 19.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 61.5 2P%, 42.9 3P%

If John Tonje was the most unstoppable scorer in the Big Ten, TKR was the 2nd best. He shot over 50% on both floaters and hook shots. He had a game winning floater from 12 feet that came off of a spin. When he was in the short roll, teams had to legitimately decide how many people they needed to send at him. If they showed no help, he was automatic. I would bet he was the best short roll scorer in the entire country.

He could go 1 on 1 in the post, and if you stayed 1 on 1, he would get bucket after bucket. He also was a solid facilitator. Out of that short roll, he would often have to decide quickly if he needed to kick out or not. More often than not he was making the right decision.

Nate Bittle, Oregon

• 13.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.2 blocks, 0.7 steals, 58.6 2P%, 31.9 3P%

Some bigs have better numbers than him, but defense matters. If you skipped the defense section, Nate Bittle was my Defensive Player of the Year. Defense matters.

He also was a guy that could go get Oregon a bucket when they needed one. He was one of the better pick and pop bigs in the conference, but he also could dominate in the post. When you combine that kind of offensive output with the defensive production I detailed above, he becomes a top 5 player to me.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Maryland

• 14.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.9 steals, 52.2 2P%, 41.5 3P%

Ja’Kobi Gillespie ended up here for one reason - he affects the game in so many different levels. He can be the elite facilitator that sets everyone up. He can be the go-to scorer that could hit any tough shot while also getting to the rim and being a great finisher for a guard. He also could be a lock down type defender both on and off ball. There just wasn’t a hole in his game this year, and to me, he is the single biggest reason why Maryland is one of the best teams in the conference and a team that could go on a deep run in March.

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The Underrated Team (basically me just shouting out Big Ten players)

As mentioned in the name (yes that full thing is the official name per Me), I just want to shout some guys out. This has nothing to do with someone being better than another, or really any order/structure to it. Just kind of a “hey, I see you hooping.”

• Tre White, Illinois

• Luke Goode, Indiana

• Pryce Sandfort, Iowa

• Rodney Rice, Maryland

• Selton Miguel, Maryland

• LJ Cason, Michigan

• Coen Carr, Michigan State

• Femi Odukale, Minnesota

• Sam Hoiberg, Nebraska

• Ty Berry, Northwestern

• Devin Royal, Ohio State

• KJ Evans, Oregon

• Zach Hicks, Penn State

• Nick Kern, Penn State

• Gicarri Harris, Purdue

• CJ Cox, Purdue

• Tyson Acuff, Rutgers

• Kobe Johnson, UCLA

• Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA

• Rashaun Agee, USC

• Tyler Harris, Washington

• Steven Crowl, Wisconsin

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