Big Ten Review (09-10)

All-Big Ten

Kalin Lucas, Michigan State
Junior 6-1 190 14.8p 1.9r 4.0a 0.1b 1.2s

Evan Turner, Ohio State
Junior 6-7 210 20.4p 9.2r 6.0a 0.9b 1.7s

Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Junior 6-8 210 15.7p 6.9r 2.1a 1.0b 1.1s

John Shurna, Northwestern
Sophomore 6-8 210 18.2p 6.4r 2.6a 0.9b 0.8s

JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
Junior 6-10 215 15.5p 7.1r 0.7a 2.1b 0.9s

Player of the Year: Evan Turner, Ohio State
The best player in college basketball (and one of the nerdiest) did it all for the Buckeyes this year. The 6-7 junior ran the point (dishing out an impressive 6 dimes per contest), hit the boards (averaging over 9 per game), filled it up on the offensive end (over 20 a game), and played lockdown defense. Forget about leading his team in multiple statistical categories, The Villain led the conference in scoring, finished second in rebounds and assists, and third in steals. Oh, and Turner broke his back on December 5th, missed six games, and returned to lead the Buckeyes - who, while talented, featured a 7-man rotation for much of the season - to a 2 seed and a share of the Big Ten title. Three of Ohio State's 7 losses on the season came during the six-game period Turner was out the injury.

Coach of the Year: Bo Ryan, Wisconsin
It seems that Ryan is finally starting to get the attention he deserves. Every time I see the Badgers in action, the announcers are singing his praises - and rightfully so. His teams execute on offense, play hard-nosed defense, and don't make mistakes. The meat grinder that is the Badgers' halfcourt offense is just as much Ryan's trademark as the Princeton offense is for JT3 or the secondary break is for Roy Williams. His players develop during their time in Madison (witness Trevon Hughes, Jon Leuer, and Jason Bohannon from this year's team), and, seemingly regardless of who is actually suiting up for the Badgers in a given year, they are going to be one of the top 25 teams in the country and compete for a Big Ten championship.

Freshman of the Year: Drew Crawford, Northwestern
Crawford "headlines" an incredibly weak crop of freshmen in the Big Ten. The 6-5 swingman averaged a solid 10 points and 4 rebounds per contest. Crawford's numbers may be underwhelming, but his play was a key factor in Northwestern regrouping after the loss of Kevin Coble. With Crawford, Coble, Shurna, and rising senior Michael Thompson returning, the Wildcats may be dancing next March for the first time in school history.

Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Kramer, Purdue
His stats (3.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks) do not begin to tell the story of the Purdue senior's impact on the defensive end of the floor. Kramer has twice been honored as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (as a sophomore and senior) and was named to the conference's all-defensive team each of his four years in West Lafayette. His on-ball defense is a thing of beauty, and the havoc he creates on the defensive end will be sorely missed by Matt Painter. One of the best perimeter defenders to come through the college ranks in the last decade.

Biggest Surprise: Wisconsin
Not a lot of surprises in the Big Ten this year, but the Badgers get the nod here for continuing to outperform expectations. I tend to give Wisconsin the benefit of the doubt, but even I didn't see Bo Ryan's squad as a Top 25-type team this year - let alone a team that would finish one game out of a share of the Big Ten title. It's about time we learned not to doubt this strange team from the North with their blonde buzzcuts and Scandinavian bloodlines.

Biggest Disappointment: Michigan
John Beilein's third season in Ann Arbor was pretty much a fiasco. For some reason, Michigan was ranked 15th in the preseason AP poll. (I'm really not sure I've ever seen a weaker preseason top 25 team.) Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims are talented, but I'm not sure the roster features another quality basketball player. While I thought Michigan would miss the tourney, I didn't expect the Wolverines to finish with a losing record (15-17). With Harris leaving early (presumably to play overseas because he's not an NBA player) and Sims graduating, things will be even worse for Beilein next year - who left a pretty good situation in West Virginia for what has pretty much become a college basketball wasteland.

Wising Up

In shocking news, Willie Warren and Greg Monroe have decided to return to Oklahoma and Georgetown, respectively, for their sophomore seasons. Monroe had somewhat of a disappointing year but would still have been selected in the first round. Warren had a tremendous year, claiming the Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors, and would also likely have been taken in the first round.

It's a smart move for both kids, but admittedly somewhat of a surprise. I think both can only improve their stock during sophomore years where each will be the featured player in the offense.

Austin Daye, a 6-10 sophomore from Gonzaga, has entered his name in this year's draft. It's a smart move for Daye who will likely be a potential pick as he projects to play the three in the NBA. Daye has a nice game, but needs to add some strength and develop a more reliable outside shot. Daye's size and skill set project nicely to the NBA, and I can see his stock rising over the next couple of weeks.

In other news, Club Trillion founder has decided to test the NBA waters after his junior season. He has decided not to hire an agent, thus keeping open the option of returning for his senior year. Though he boasted insane per minute stats over the past season, I expect The Shark to return for his senior year. He will have the opportunity to "dot" several more people before leaving school next year.

Luke Winn Unearths Club Trillion

Luke Winn is quickly becoming one of my favorite sportswriters. Winn has an undeniable penchant for identifying and expounding upon the absurdities found in the world of college basketball. In the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Winn penned an article about Louisville's Terrence Williams, which included a variety of T-Will tidbits. My personal favorites: that T-Will wore a Barbi backpack in high school to be different and that, in his high school lunchroom, he would tell classmates, "You've got to come strong to your mouth," before knocking sandwiches out of their hands. After discussing the article with a good friend of mine who is a Louisville native, he informed me that he saw T-Will in Louisville recently wearing a jacket with a spray-painted image of his own face on it. Needless to say, all of this is awesome.

Back to Winn. Winn's most recent contribution to SI.com is an article entitled "Fifty Thoughts on Selection Sunday." You can read it here. The entire article is worth reading, but what really grabbed my attention is Winn's endorsement of Club Trillion as the nation's hottest tournament blog. Club Trillion: Life Views from the End of the Bench is the brainchild (if you can call it that) of Ohio State reserve Mark Titus. Titus' blog is quite amusing, and I highly recommend this entry in which Titus tries to determine who is the whitest Buckeye and why. Ultimately, Titus determines that he, in fact, is the whitest team member -- though he adds that, if Evan Turner was not black, he would be the whitest because he wears scarves and listens to John Mayer. Titus' analysis is thorough, as he provides a link to a photo of a shirt worn by a player during a formal outing that disqualifies him from consideration, discusses the lack of Dale Earnhardt tattoos on one of his teammates, and includes a confusing reference to Grandma Winslow's back hair (the old lady from the Urkel show).