Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Nov. 4-11

WEEKLY RELEASE - NOVEMBER 4

Big Ten. Big News.

The Big Ten will tip off its 120th season tonight, as 14 teams take the court, with the four remaining teams opening play on Tuesday and Wednesday. By the end of the week, all 14 teams will have played at least two games.
In addition to the Big Ten’s four newest members, Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, the Big Ten also welcomes three new coaches to the league. Michigan’s Dusty May, USC’s Eric Musselman, and Washington’s Danny Sprinkle will begin their first seasons with their respective schools. After going 8-3 as interim head coach last season, Ohio State’s Jake Diebler will also begin his first season at the helm.
Eleven Big Ten teams were recognized in the preseason AP and USA Today Coach Polls. The AP Top 25 included No. 14 Purdue, No. 17 Indiana, No. 22 UCLA, and No. 25 Rutgers, while the coaches listed the Boilermakers at No. 13, the Hoosiers at No. 18, the Bruins at No. 22, and Illinois at No. 25. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oregon, and Wisconsin also received votes in one or both polls.
Three Big Ten players, Indiana’s Oumar Ballo, Purdue’s Braden Smith, and Rutgers’ Ace Bailey were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Player of the Year Watch List. The trio was also among the 10 Big Ten players named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time. Also named to the list were Ace Baldwin Jr. (PSU), Dawson Garcia (MINN), Dylan Harper (RUT), Great Osobor (WASH), Payton Sandfort (IOWA), Jackson Shelstad (ORE), and Bruce Thornton (OSU).
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame recently announced the preseason watch lists for its national player of the year awards at the five traditional court positions. Sixteen student-athletes from 12 different Big Ten schools were named to the preseason watch lists at all five positions. A complete list of the honors can be found on Page 2.
For the seventh consecutive year, each Big Ten Conference member institution will compete in a 20-game conference schedule. The Big Ten Conference season will begin with three games on Tuesday, Dec. 3, Northwestern at Iowa, Washington at UCLA, and Michigan at Wisconsin. Following the holiday break, Big Ten action will resume on Jan. 2 with five games. During the conference season, each member institution will play a 20-game league schedule, facing three schools both home and away, while meeting 14 teams once. Of the single-play opponents, member institutions will play seven at home and seven on the road.
The 28th annual TIAA Big Ten Tournament will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis between March 12th – 16th, 2025, marking the 14th time the tournament has been played in Indianapolis. Fifteen teams will advance to the tournament, with three 1st round games slated for Wednesday, March 12th. The top four teams will receive 1st and 2nd round byes and advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, March 14th.
A Big Ten media panel has selected Purdue guard Braden Smith as 2024-24 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. Smith is coming off a record-breaking season for the Boilermakers, setting school and Big Ten records with 292 assists, while leading the Boilermakers to their first NCAA championship game appearance since 1969. Smith was the only player in the country to average at least 12.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game and became just the second player in NCAA history to amass at least 450 points, 275 assists and 225 rebounds in a season.
The media panel also selected the 2024-25 Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Smith is joined by Indiana’s Oumar Ballo, Iowa’s Payton Sandfort, Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer, Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr., Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, and Washington’s Great Osobor. Six members of the 2024-25 Preseason All-Big Ten Team garnered All-Big Ten honors last season. The league’s coaches named Smith to the First Team, while Baldwin, Barnhizer, Garcia, and Sandfort earned Third Team honors. Thornton received Honorable Mention.
Purdue won its second consecutive Big Ten title and 26th crown in program history after posting a 17-3 record in league play. The Boilermakers secured the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a three-game cushion over Illinois. Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin completed the tournament’s top five seeds.
Illinois claimed its fourth TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball title with a 93-87 win over Wisconsin at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Illini’s Terrence Shannon Jr. was named Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player after leading Illinois with a Big Ten Championship game record 34 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor and 15-17 shooting from the free throw line. With a total of 102 points in the tournament, Shannon fell just one point shy of tying Keegan Murray’s 2022 total points mark. Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga, Purdue’s Zach Edey, and Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn and AJ Storr were also named to the All-Tournament Team.