by Jordan Beckley
The Summer is great for many things. It’s great for beach vacations and being on the water. Summer is the time for blockbuster movies like Barbie and Oppenheimer.
Perhaps most importantly, Summer is the best time of year to think about your favorite team and worry about that one position you’re weak at. Despite having no potential of resolution or having any control, it is easy to obsess over the stuff you don’t know about your team.
So let’s worry together! Here is one starting spot or critical position that is undecided for each team in the conference.
Which Wisconsin guard is benched?
Technically Wisconsin returns all 5 starters. There is little doubt to think Gard won’t start Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn and Steven Crowl. I’m not so sure about Connor Essegian and Max Klesmit.
In my opinion, one of the biggest additions of the offseason for any Big Ten team is AJ Storr. The St. Johns transfer started to blossom down the stretch last season. Storr offers popping athleticism and a scoring punch that Wisconsin frankly needs. He should start. That pushes one of the Essegian or Klesmit out of the starting 5.
My gut says Essegian’s shooting next to Storr, Hepburn and the bigs makes the most sense. Yet, the better way to look at it might be who is the best guy to be the 6th man? Essegian was last year before he earned the starting gig. Does Klesmit make sense as an impact bench guy? Or does Gard stick with the continuity and have Storr be the go to guard off the bench?
Michigan State’s best frontcourt combo
The Spartans have one of the best backcourts in the country with AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins. Izzo will have to figure out what frontcourt matches up best with their top tier backcourt. Mady Sissoko and the graduated Joey Hauser started at the 4 and 5 last year.
Michigan State doesn’t have a shortage of options. Sissoko will likely be the top candidate for 5 but Sophomores Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper will compete for minutes. Malik Hall often played the 4 in small ball lineups. Freshmen Coen Carr and Gehrig Normand both provide athleticism and shooting at the forward position as well. Of course, there is top 10 recruit and 5-star big Xavier Booker will eat up 30 minutes at some combination of the 4 and 5 as well.
Izzo will have to parse through what makes sense. What lineup best balances spacing, athleticism, experience, strength, length, etc? My day one prediction will be Booker and Sissoko together. It will be more interesting to see who is closing tight games for Michigan State.
Illinois’ PG Battle
This is the most talked about position battle in the conference. With Terrence Shannon Jr and Coleman Hawkins returning, the Illini have a good enough roster to try and win the Big Ten. However, the starting PG spot is a glaring hole after the two freshmen Skyy Clark and Jayden epps transferred out.
Now, Brad Underwood will have to give the keys to either one of the new freshmen in Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Niccolo Moretti or to Ty Rodgers. Rodgers and Gibbs-Lawhorn might not be enough of playmakers. Moretti has great vision but his defense is questionable and it’s unclear how much he can create at the college level.
In their first three scrimmages on their foreign tour, nobody besides Coleman Hawkins had more than 4 assists. Rodgers has been the assumed starter, but don’t be surprised if this is a rotating position all season as Underwood tries to find what works best. Getting it right could be the difference between being at the top of the Big Ten or landing in the middle again.
Maryland’s minute shuffle
The Terps entered the offseason looking at two new starters. Jahmir Young, Donta Scott and Julian Reese have spots locked in. Through camp it seems two of the freshmen have stood out and taken the other two spots.
Deshawn Harris-Smith seems destined to be Young’s running mate in the backcourt. Jamie Kaiser’s complimentary skills have set him up to be a logical starter as well. Still, that begs the question who is starting at the 4 spot in that lineup?
The easy answer is that Donta Scott is the 4. But I have to write about one battle for every team! Maryland might have a pretty defined hierarchy already, but one wildcard is IU transfer Jordan Geronimo. Geronimo has really impressed the coaching staff so far this summer. Scott had 31 mpg last season. I think the coaches will want to get Geronimo out there for more than just 9 minutes.
Can Geronimo and Scott play together? Will Geronimo eat into the backup center minutes? The starters might be set in College Park but the minutes division isn’t. Keep an eye on Geronimo.
Nebraska rejecting traditional positions
The Huskers have one of the weirdest rosters in the Big Ten. It is filled with big guards and small forwards and seemingly no traditional bigs or point guards.
Nebraska had a traditional point in Ahron Ulis but it seems likely he won’t play a game in Lincoln. Last year Derrick Walker, Wilhelm Breidenbach and Blaise Keita were all big bodies that would occupy the 5. Only Keita is left.
Hoiberg is really going for the positionless basketball style this year. One possible lineup could be Brice Williams, Juwan Gary, Ramel Lloyd Jr, Eli Rice, and Josiah Allick. All 5 of those guys are in the 6-5” – 6-8” range. Lineups will be flexible and I expect Hoiberg to mix it up all season with every player on the roster (even non-scholarship guys) getting minutes.
My questions for this roster will come down to the battle on the boards and creation. Can they rebound well enough against the bigger Big Ten teams? Easy second chance points and one and done possessions can kill an underdog team. If they don’t have a traditional point, how will they create offense for one another? Last season, nobody averaged more than 4 assists a game. The leader? Starting center Derrick Walker.
Nebraska can do the 5-out, long & switchable shooter lineups like Villanova, but somebody still has to rebound and pass the ball. The position battles won’t matter as much as these skills will.
Purdue’s wildcard starter
Purdue has one of the deepest rosters in the Big Ten. Coach Matt Painter will have the ‘good problem’ of sorting out what good players make the rotation and what ones don’t.
Part of that rotation will be deciding who the starters are at 3&4. Reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey figures to have the 5 spot locked up. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer started every game as Freshmen and most likely will keep those spots. Painter has been battling with the decision of Mason Gillis or Caleb Furst at 4 for two seasons now. This year will likely be year three. Both those guys are great and it could end up being matchup dependent, however the more interesting starting spot will be the 3 spot.
Could Gillis start at the three? Painter has been reluctant to do that. Will it still be Ethan Morton who started 29 games last season? I think most Purdue fans don’t want that. Freak athlete Freshman Myles Colvin might be the Purdue fans’ choice, but he might play the 2 more than the 3. Redshirt Freshman Camden Heide is in the running too as a guy with some air in his game. Not to mention Brian Waddell has played well on their foreign tour and finally showed some scoring chops. Oh and did I mention bulldog Grad transfer Lance Jones who started as the third guard in a couple of the foreign tour games.
Yeah, Purdue is deep and Painter will have tough decisions to make.
Minnesota’s guard decision
Ben Johnson lost two of his best starters in Ta’Lon Cooper and Jamison Battle this portal season. However, the transfer portal also brought in two new starting candidates in Elijah Hawkins and Mike Mitchell Jr. The Gophers know that the starting 4 will be their best player in Dawson Garcia. Garcia will be joined with a dealer’s choice of Pharrel Payne or more likely Josh Ola-Joseph. But who will fill up the backcourt?
Mike Mitchell Jr. is a lock to be the new starting PG. Hawkins has a pretty good shot at being the two. That leaves the third spot up for grabs. I really liked Braeden Carrington at times as a Freshman. If he can start finishing on his layups he will be a really nice player. New freshman Cameron Christie will also be fighting for that spot.
Mitchell and Hawkins were 40% shooters from deep on over 5 attempts last season. Minnesota’s formula might just be to launch 30 threes a game between them, Garcia, Christie, and Carrington. Cam Christie might be the choice if it comes down to shooting chops.
Iowa’s frontcourt
Both Murray brothers are off to the NBA leaving a hole at the 4. Filip Rebraca graduated and Josh Ogundele transferred leaving a hole at the 5 too.
Even Brauns and Ben Krikke are coming in the portal to fill those holes, but can either really play the 4? Krikke was a 27% 3pt shooter on 1.9 attempts last year. Brauns doesn’t shoot threes at all. Can they build an efficient Iowa offense with those two together? I don’t see a Riley Mulvey breakout coming.
Ok, maybe those two just eat up the 40 minutes at the 5. So who is going to play the 4?
Freshmen Ladji Dembele and Owen Freeman could potentially be the answer there. Based on highschool highlights they seem to be more of centers than forwards, but when you’re that size in high school you can often be typecast. Freeman and Dembele had some great moments on Iowa’s foreign tour.
Still, McCaffery typically favors playing Freshmen minor minutes and bringing them along slower. See Josh Dix and Dasonte Bowen last year.
So, is Iowa going to play smaller? Will they roll “bigger” guards like Payton Sandfort and Patrick McCaffery at the 4? A lineup of Tony Perkins, Pryce Sandfort, Payton Sandfort, McCaffery & insert a big is a fun lineup offensively, but what happens when they play IU, Michigan & Purdue who will have Malik Reneau, Olivier Nkamhoua & Caleb Furst at the 4?
I don’t have an answer. I think this will be one of the most interesting starting jobs to watch in the Big Ten.
Who is Northwestern’s fifth starter?
Northwestern had a pretty tight rotation last year. Two major changes happened in the offseason. Chase Audige pursued the pros and Robbie Beran grad transferred to be a Hokie in his home state of Virginia.
One of those spots will be quickly filled by Brooks Barnhizer. Barnhizer made a sophomore leap and even though he wasn’t a starter, he closed most games for the Cats. That leaves one more spot to fill next to Matt Nicholson, Ty Berry, and Boo Buie.
The answer might come from one of the portal additions in Ryan Langborg, Justin Mullins or Blake Preston. Langborg likely will get the most minutes, but if he starts Northwestern would be playing very small. Mullins and Preston seem more like reserves. Returning players like Nick Martinelli and Luke Hunger will be options if Chris Collins wants some size at the 4.
The Cats core four will do most of the work for this team. It will be up to that 5th starter to just make all of their lives easier.
Running Rutgers’ point
Rutgers overseas trip offers a pretty clear picture of what this team will look like. Coach Pikiell started both Noah Fernandes and Derek Simpson in the backcourt. Four-star Freshman Gavin Griffiths stretched the floor on the wing while Aundre Hyatt and Cliff Omoruyi made up the frontcourt.
Having that starting 5 with Antwone Woolfolk, Mawot Mag, and Oskar Palmquist providing experience off the bench makes sense. Other freshman Jamichael Davis and Emmanuel Ogbole will offer wildcards.
That starting 5 makes sense but will it be the closing 5? I wonder if this team will be better going super big and having Mag, Hyatt and Omoruyi forming a tornado of limbs around the basket. In that scenario, Griffiths’ shooting would be essential, but who runs point? Derek Simpson offers scoring and in the first foreign tour game he had 8 assists. But Fernandes offers experience and poise that the Sophomore Simpson might not have yet.
Michigan’s third guard
Michigan’s starting 5 will look drastically different this season with up to 4 new starters. Dug McDaniel is the lone constant and Jaelin Llewellyn will likely return to the starting lineup after returning from injury. Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua will definitely start. Most likely Tarris Reed Jr will be promoted to starting center in Hunter Dickinson’s absence.
That leaves one final spot at the 3. Will Juwan Howard be loyal and keep Terrance Williams in the starting lineup? Will one of the new transfers in Tray Jackson or Nimari Burnett take the spot? Could true-freshman guard George Washington III earn the spot?
My guess is that Howard will either pick Burnett for defense or Washington for offense. Burnett likely will be the day one starter, but I imagine that the whole lineup is up to change if unfavorable results pile up.
Penn State’s play style
Nobody has more new players than Penn State with 10 new scholarship players. With the old guard from Coach Shrewsbury moving out and the new guard of Coach Rhoades moving in, the Nittany Lions will have 5 new starters this year. So, what will a Coach Rhodes Penn State team look like?
At VCU, Rhoades leaned on guards heavily and didn’t really roster a traditional big. Will there be big minutes without Favour Aire, Demetrius Lilley, or Qudus Wahab occupying the paint as the traditional center? Rhoades favored an 8 man rotation last season. Will it be as short this year with ten incoming transfers and three returning players?
In the games overseas so far Kanye Clary has started at point and Ace Baldwin has been the 2. Clary has looked great and I honestly didn’t expect both of them to be out there together. That leaves the 3 spot up to Nick Kern, D’Marco Dunn and RayQuawndis Mitchell. Puff Johnson, Zach Hicks and Leo O’Boyle will fight for the 4.
Every spot is up for grabs in the new Happy Valley regime. What will be more interesting is watching how Rhoades decides questions like how big is the 5, how many guards will play at a time, and who is closing?
Ohio State’s 3 spot
We know a couple of things with Ohio State this year. Bruce Thornton is starting and Holtmann will give everybody minutes. Everything else is up in the air.
Will Zed Key or Felix Okpara be the starting center? Is Taison Chatman going to start at 2 or will Holtmann lean on Baylor transfer Dale Bonner’s experience? Jamison Battle will likely start but at what position?
The 3 and 4 spot is pretty open for the Buckeyes. Some fans might say, “Obviously it is going to be Roddy Gayle and Battle duh!” Send Tweet. But it is more layered than that.
Scotty Middleton is a freshman who can do it all and his connecting play could be crucial. Penn State transfer Evan Mahaffey could earn the spot with defense and secondary playmaking. Devin Royal’s pure athleticism could push others out of the way.
All the different ways Holtmann can go will be one of the bigger personnel decisions in the conference this season. I’m sure it will depend on the opponent, but will one of these candidates break out and make it easy for him?
Can any of Indiana’s forwards play the three?
The Hoosiers have a good amount of starters locked in already. Xavier Johnson, Kel’el Ware and Trey Galloway have three of the 5 spots. The last two spots will come down to a jumble of forwards.
The most talented 5 would be Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako being the 3 and 4. Reneau, Mgbako and Ware have all shown various levels of being able to shoot from deep. How well all of them can shoot will determine if they can share the floor. If they can it will be a matchup nightmare for other Big Ten teams to have that much length on the frontline.
If they can’t share the floor that is when it opens up to the other forwards like Miami transfer Anthony Walker and sophomore Kaleb Banks. If those guys can’t do enough to space the floor, maybe Mike Woodson sticks a third guard like Gabe Cupps in a Miller Kopp type role.