Big Ten Honors & Awards

With no Big Ten schools advancing beyond the Sweet 16, it's officially time to take a look back at the season that was. Remember that honors and awards take into account the entirety of the season, rather than just Big Ten conference play.

All-Big Ten

Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
#11 Junior Guard 6-1 195
18.1 ppg 4.7 apg 4.1 rpg

Talor Battle, Penn State
#12 Senior Guard 6-0 170
20.2 ppg 4.4 rpg 2.9 apg

E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
#33 Senior Guard 6-4 190
18.0 ppg 5.1 rpg 3.2 apg

JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
#25 Senior Center 6-10 220
20.5 ppg 8.6 rpg 2.3 bpg

Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
#0 Freshman Center 6-9 280
17.2 ppg 10.2 rpg .541 FG%


Player of the Year: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
The big-bodied freshman edges Purdue's JaJuan Johnson by the slimmest of margins based largely on his ability to impose his will on the perimeter-oriented college game as a true post presence.

All-Defense

Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
#11 Junior Guard 6-1 195

Aaron Craft, Ohio State
#4 Freshman Guard 6-2 195

David Lighty, Ohio State
#23 Senior Guard 6-5 220

Draymond Green, Michigan State
#23 Junior Forward 6-7 230

JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
#25 Senior Center 6-10 220


Defensive Player of the Year: JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
David Lighty and Aaron Craft deserve special recognition for their tenacious perimeter defense, but Johnson,the former Baby Boiler, earned the top spot in the defensively-minded Big Ten after averaging 2.3 blocks per contest and anchoring Matt Painter's stingy Purdue D.

Freshman of the Year: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Sullinger is a no-brainer here, but fellow Buckeye Aaron Craft and Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. also had excellent freshman campaigns.

Coach of the Year: Thad Matta, Ohio State
Matta is the choice for guiding Ohio State to a two-loss regular season, the Big Ten regular season and conference tourney titles, and the overall number one seed in the NCAA tourney, but Purdue's Matt Painter gets a tip of the hat for yet another strong showing (as does Michigan's John Beilein for taking a team that RBP predicted would be "epically bad" to the second round of the NCAAs).

And now for some regionally appropriate hip-hop.