With the conclusion of the regular season, it is officially award season. So here are The Floor Slap’s picks for Coach of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year and 1st, 2nd and 3rd team All-Big Ten. *All stats are before the games this weekend *
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Big Ten Coach of the Year was wrapped up earlier in the year with Matt Painter crushing the field but losing 4 of 6 to end February. That losing streak has opened up this race for some competitors.
One coach who beat him in that stretch was Maryland’s Kevin Willard. Willard took over with little expectations for year one and has far surpassed them. Maryland at the time of writing is 20-10 and tied for second place in the Big Ten. Certainly a tremendous season to start his tenure in College Park.
The argument against Willard is that Maryland is tied for second with half of the Big Ten. So, they could be easily be 8th in the league. The Terps have 8 losses and their loss to Ohio State might have taken Willard out of the running.
Another candidate would have been Mike Woodson. Woodson swept Purdue and has actually had a pretty good season considering the injuries Indiana has suffered. However, the expectations IU had before the season eliminate Woodson.
The real contender with Painter is Chris Collins at Northwestern. Winning coach of the year is usually about exceeding expectations more than being the best coach on the best team. Collins and Northwestern exceeded expectations this year and are going to the Tournament for just the second time in program history.
However, Northwestern has dropped three straight and have to play at Rutgers on Sunday. If they lose, the Wildcats will be 11-9 in conference and Collins likely won’t win the award.
I think Matt Painter with a win over Illinois at home on Sunday will win this award. Painter will have replaced All-American Jaden Ivey and three other starters, and still have won the conference by three games. Doing all that while starting two freshmen guards and developing Zach Edey into a National player of the Year… that’s coaching.
My Vote: Matt Painter
Big Ten Player of the Year
Big Ten Player of the Year is a two man race this year. Zach Edey and Trayce Jackson-Davis are the contenders for not just this award, but also all the National Player of the Year awards. Both will be first team All-Americans. Both will be unanimous 1st Team All-Big Ten.
So let’s break it down.
Edey played in 29 games scoring 22.1 points a game, grabbed 13.1 rebounds a game, with 1.5 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. He shot 61.6% from the floor and 72.8% from the free throw line. His team went 25-5 (14-5) and won the Big Ten Title outright.
Jackson-Davis played in 27 games scoring 20.3 points a game, with 11.1 rebounds a game, dished more assists at 3.8 a game and blocked more shots at 2.8 per game. He shot 57.4% from the field and was 68.6% from the charity strike. His team went 20-10 (11-8) and are among the huge deadlock in second place in conference.
TJD and IU also beat the Boilermakers twice. But Zach Edey outperformed Trayce in both games.
You don’t need to overthink this one. TJD might be the better all around player, but Edey is the best player in College Basketball this year.
Edey is the best player on the best team in the Big Ten putting up 23, 13 and 2.5 blocks a game. This choice – like many of Zach Edey’s shots- is a slam dunk.
My Vote: Zach Edey
1st Team All-Big Ten
Most of the first team All-Big Ten is pretty easy to pick with four quick locks on the team.
I do not need to waste characters on why Edey and TJD are on it.
The next lock is Kris Murray for Iowa. One year after his brother was on 1st team, Kris gets his turn with the honor. He is averaging 20.5 points a game, 8 rebounds and another 1.8 assists, 1.2 blocks, and a steal per game. He is shooting almost 60% from 2, 35% from 3, and went up 10% to 74% from the FT line from last year to this year. The Hawkeyes fell apart when he was injured and have surged back up the Big Ten standings because of his play.
Jalen Pickett was also a fairly easy choice. Pickett puts up gaudy numbers at 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game while shooting efficiently at .572/.388/.788 splits. Yes, Penn State is closer to the bottom of the Big Ten and might miss the tournament, but because of Pickett they have won 9 Big Ten games and have a shot of making March Madness. Pickett scored 43 and 32 points with 16 assists and 11 combined rebounds in two wins in a single week to power them into the bubble conversation. It is hard to think any guard means more to his team in the conference.
The fifth spot on this team is where it gets hard. So let’s go through the candidates.
Terrence Shannon Jr. was the early season favorite for this spot but injuries and an up and down Illinois performance hinder his resume.
Hunter Dickinson has been amazing recently and might end up with the last spot. However, his poor performance early in the year and how much he has rubbed people the wrong way off the court might get him punished in the voting. I knocked him because multiple Michigan players were in the running for All-Big Ten teams. So you can not give him the same amount of credit for overall team success like some of these other candidates.
The hardest cut for me might have been Jahmir Young. Young has transformed the Maryland Terrapins into a top of the conference team and potentially a threat in March. He averages 16 ppg, 5rpg and 3apg a game and his been the leader that Kevin Willard has built his program on in year one. But I just can’t put him over the guy that got the final spot.
Boo Buie is my final spot on First Team. Buie has put up 17 points, 3.5rpg and 4.5apg this season and has taken a team picked to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten to the top. Northwestern lost several players to the transfer portal to schools like Duke and North Carolina. The Wildcats replaced them with players that were not ranked in recruiting classes or in transfer portal rankings. That did not matter to Buie as he lead this team to at least 4 more wins in conference this year and locked down Northwestern’s second ever NCAA berth.
Buie is a better defender than Young. He scored slightly more points (on a worse offense) and had more assists. Plus, I just think that Kevin Willard might have been able to get a lot of guards to score 15 a game and make Maryland’s roster win games. I don’t think many guards could do what Buie has done at Northwestern this year.
My Vote for First Team All-Big Ten:
- Zach Edey (Purdue)
- Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
- Kris Murray (Iowa)
- Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
- Boo Buie (Northwestern)
2nd Team All-Big Ten
That leaves Hunter Dickinson, Jahmir Young and Terrence Shannon Jr. at the top of the second team.
The next spot was pretty easy for me to pick. Tyson Walker has been the best player for Michigan State. The Spartans are a sum of their parts team. Any game could be a Joey Hauser game or an AJ Hoggard game like it was at Nebraska this week. However, Tyson Walker is their leading scorer and their go to guy in most clutch situations. Walker’s offensive explosions against Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, etc. are the thing that separate him from Hauser or Hoggard or even some of the guys below him on third team.
So then that leaves the fifth spot and a tough group to decide between. A trio of freshmen are at the core of the discussion in Brice Sensabaugh, Jett Howard, and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Brice Sensabaugh is a lottery pick and has been a phenomenal scorer but Ohio State’s lackluster season prevents him from getting this spot.
Jett Howard has been injured and suffers the same fate as Hunter Dickinson where he and Kobe Bufkin hurt Howard’s chances of making the 2nd team.
Jalen Hood-Schifino beat Purdue singlehandedly in West Lafayette. Hood-Schifino has been tremendous at times replacing injured Xavier Johnson but at times has been underwhelming too.
I decided to group all three of the Freshmen on third team and put Cliff Omoruyi as the last slot on 2nd Team. Omoruyi has been the anchor of the best defense in the country at Rutgers. He has been averaging nearly a double double and is third in the conference in rebounding and blocks. Its hard to pick one guy on Rutgers to put up for All-conference teams as they all contribute so much, but big Cliff is the choice.
My Vote for Second Team All-Big Ten:
- Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
- Hunter Dickinson (Michigan)
- Jahmir Young (Maryland)
- Tyson Walker (Michigan State)
- Cliff Omoruyi (Rutgers)
3rd Team All-Big Ten
As I said the trio of freshmen, that are off to the NBA, kick off the Third team.
So here is a list of guys to choose from for the final two spots: Filip Rebraca, Tony Perkins, Dawson Garcia, Cam Spencer, Keisei Tominanga, Chase Audige, Kobe Bufkin, Seth Lundy, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Chucky Hepburn, AJ Hoggard, Derrick Walker and more.
So yeah, there’s a chance that the guy from your favorite team is left off.
The next guy I added was Chase Audige. Audige might be the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He is the other catalyst of Northwestern’s amazing season next to Buie. Audige lead the league in total steals and is a bruising hulk of a guard. When he is bullying smaller Big Ten guards like Fletcher Loyer, it doesn’t seem fair. His scoring is erratic but he still is averaging 14 a game and grabs 3 boards with 3 assists. He just does a little bit of everything and his defense is what separates him from the other candidates.
So, one final spot.
I took away guys who just score a lot like Rebraca, Garcia, Lundy and sadly Tominanga. If Keisei had been unleashed all season he could have made 2nd team!
Loyer and Smith for Purdue were too inconsistent to reward despite impacting winning so much.
Guys like Walker and Garcia didn’t win enough to be considered despite their numbers.
My final pick is a guy who just kept improving all season and I just didn’t want to leave him off. I went with Julian Reese from Maryland.
Reese has gotten better with every single game. The sophomore’s numbers aren’t spectacular (11/7/1/1) but his improvement is too much to ignore. Reese has had 9 straight games in double figures and four straight double doubles. At this point in the season he is one of the five best bigs in the Big Ten. His mobility and versatility is unique at center in the Big Ten. Reese’s hard rolls, offensive rebounds, passing, and smart cuts unlock so much for not just himself but all the players around him. By next year, Reese could move higher up this list.
My Vote for Third Team All-Big Ten:
- Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
- Jett Howard (Michigan)
- Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
- Chase Audige (Northwestern)
- Julian Reese (Maryland)