First Team All-Big Ten
Cuscago Ty:
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan *Big Ten Player of the Year
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
Braden Smith, Purdue
Robby Nardini:
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan * Big Ten Player of the Year
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
Braden Smith, Purdue
Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska
How strong of a case does Keaton Wagler have for Big Ten Player of the Year?
Ty: This was the toughest call for me. Keaton Wagler is the best offensive player on the most efficient offense in the history of Kenpom. In conference play, he has put up 20.3 points per game, 4.5 rebounds
per game and 4.9 assists per game*, only Bruce Thornton comes anywhere near touching that line in the conference. He is shooting 43% from three, on threes most NBA players wouldn’t even dare to attempt. He might be the single best story in college basketball this year.
Unfortunately, I can’t get Yaxel Lendeborg throwing an enormous monkey wrench in the Illini offense out of my mind. He is the most versatile player in all of college basketball on both ends of the court (spoiler alert for a later award). What he lacks in counting stats (just 13.9 points per game in conference play), he makes up with in advanced stats, lapping the field in box score plus minus. Keaton had a historic season, but Yaxel’s impact just feels like Thanos: it’s inevitable that he is going to be the most impactful player overall in every game he plays.
Robby: I give Yaxel Lendenborg the edge in this year’s Player of the Year race. Numerous players made strong cases, but the Michigan forward is my choice. He more than likely would have been a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, but he chose to return to college and commit to Michigan for a significant payday.
Lendenborg is a phenomenal two-way player who flexed his muscles in games at Illinois, at Purdue, and at Michigan State, helping Michigan secure the outright Big Ten regular-season championship. Keaton Wagler was my second choice, with Jeremy Fears Jr. coming in third. While Lendenborg’s stats may be slightly worse than those two, his impact on Michigan’s success is enough for me to choose him.
*All stats accurate through Saturday’s games
Second Team All-Big Ten
Cuscago Ty:
Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Nick Martinelli, Northwestern
Lamar Wilkerson, Indiana
Nick Boyd, Wisconsin
Robby Nardini:
Bruce Thorton, Ohio State
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Lamar Wilkerson, Indiana
Nick Boyd, Wisconsin
Morez Johnson, Michigan
Third Team All-Big Ten
Cuscago Ty:
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Morez Johnson, Michigan
Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA
Cade Tyson, Minnesota
John Blackwell, Wisconsin
Robby Nardini:
Nick Martinelli, Northwestern
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA
Aday Mara, Michigan
John Blackwell, Wisconsin
How much does team success factor into your picks?
Ty: When I differ from Robby, it appears I value statistical prowess while he values winners. I think winning should matter in awards and certainly played into my decision to give Yaxel Player of the Year, but I also don’t want to punish incredible players for their crappy teammates. I highly value efficiency. Tariq Francis doesn’t get much consideration for me because he plays on an awful team, is a liability defensively and needs to shoot a lot to get his moderately high point total (18.9 ppg in conference play), but If a player can still score efficiently while gathering all the attention of the other team’s defense it gains my respect.
While Nebraska won more than Ohio State, I don’t believe it was because Pryce Sandfort was better than Bruce Thornton; I am of the opinion that it was because Pryce Sandfort’s supporting cast and coach were better than Bruce Thornton’s. While their scoring was similar, Thornton did it more efficiently, with ridiculous 55/39/81 shooting splits while also contributing more in rebounds, assists and steals as well. I ruled similarly when it came to Michigan’s secondary stars as well, preferring the incredible shotmaking of Nick Martinelli on the second team over Morez Johnson, and leaving Aday Mara’s impactful 23 minutes a game off in favor of Cade Tyson’s 17.5 points per game on just 11.4 field goal attempts.
Robby: Team success is a major factor in how I select my conference and national awards in college basketball. There are numerous outstanding players in the Big Ten and other conferences around the country who put up impressive stats but do not have the team success for me to justify placing them on an all-conference team.
Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli is the league’s leading scorer at 22.7 points per game, but his team has just five wins overall, so I have him slotted as a Third Team All-Big Ten player, while Ty has him as a second teamer. Similarly, I have Cade Tyson as a third teamer despite him averaging 19.5 points per game. I also rewarded Pryce Sandfort with First Team honors for being on a top-four-seeded Nebraska team, and I have three Michigan players across these three teams since they ran away with the regular-season title.
Does David Mirkovic have a strong case for making at least Third Team All-Big Ten?
Ty: The bottom of the third team is so hard to choose players. I had 13 players as All-Big Ten locks, counting the first and second teams as well as Hannes Steinbach, Morez Johnson and Tyler Bilodeau. The last two spots I narrowed down to Cade Tyson, John Blackwell, Aday Mara, David Mirkovic, Sam Hoiberg and Donovan Dent. Ok, that isn’t really that much narrowing.
I eliminated Dent first because despite being a great orchestrator of the offense, his shooting splits were putrid this year (40/27/66 in conference). I eliminated Mara next because he only played 23 minutes per game; it’s just hard for me to put someone among the fifteen best players in the conference when he is off the floor for 17 minutes a game. Then I begrudgingly eliminated David Mirkovic. While his 40.7 percent three-point rate in Big Ten play was a pleasant surprise, 50 percent from two-point range is pretty low for a power forward and drops his overall efficiency, and there was just a general lack of consistency, which comes with the territory for most freshmen. There were a few games when Brad rightfully had to take him off the court late in favor of Ben Humrichous, and that can’t happen for an All-Big Ten player. I expect him to make a big leap up to the first or second team next year though. Shockingly, that left little Sam Hoiberg as my most difficult omission from the All-Big Ten squads.
Robby: David Mirkovic is having a great freshman season that will likely result in him making the All-Freshman Team, but I do not think he has done enough to make the All-Big Ten Third Team. Neither Ty nor I had Mirkovic on our Third Team All-Conference selections, but he is not too far off.
The third team is very difficult to pick with all the talent in the Big Ten, but I tend to lean toward Aday Mara because of his impact on Michigan’s Big Ten title team. Hannes Steinbach is another outstanding freshman in college basketball, and I believe he deserves the spot over Mirkovic as well, as he is averaging 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
All-Defensive Team
Cuscago Ty:
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan *Defensive Player of the Year
Sam Hoiberg, Nebraska
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
Aday Mara, Michigan
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Robby Nardini:
Aday Mara, Michigan *Defensive Player of the Year
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Sam Hoiberg, Nebraska
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
Carson Cooper, Michigan State
Mara or Lendeborg for Defensive Player of the Year, explain your pick:
Ty: Lendeborg is the tip of the spear of a ruthless Michigan defense. The Big Ten has a plethora of talented point guards, and he had the tendency of making their lives miserable. In the same game he could guard Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, or Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic. Besides the eye test, the advanced stats loved his impact, and he also had the classic defensive counting stats with 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Aday Mara certainly has a strong case, as he makes the lane a no-fly zone similar to the way Zach Edey used to at Purdue. He leads the conference with 2.8 blocks per game and alters many more shots. However, he can get played off the floor by the right pick and pop big (Tomislav just could not make him pay like he needed to), and the 8.5 fewer minutes he plays than Lendeborg makes the difference to me.
Robby: Ty and I differ on our defensive player of the year as I gave my award to Michigan center Aday Mara instead of Yaxel Lendeborg. Yaxel is a great defender and is the likely Big 10 Player of the Year but I think Mara’s impact inside is like nobody else in all of college basketball.
Mara is 7-foot-3 and is the anchor inside for the Wolverines. He leads the conference in blocks per game at 2.6 and is second in the league in block percentage at 12.59%, only behind Illinois center Zvonomir Ivisic. His pure presence inside makes it very difficult for opposing teams to score the basketball inside.
Which Illini player has the best case for All-Defensive team?
Ty: Kylan is the Illini’s best defender, but missed too many games to be considered, and even in the games he did play had too many moments of passivity. He is an in-your-shorts on ball defender with quick hands when he is engaged, but too many times, whether by scheme or technique, he let himself get switched off his primary assignment. Ben Humrichous deserves some attention here for the massive strides he took on the defensive side of the ball this year. He was our only big man who could switch onto a smaller player and stay in front of them. Still, he was more solid than standout.
Zvonomir Ivisic is my answer here. He was the second-best rim protector in the conference behind Mara. Illinois’ defensive efficiency increased drastically with Big Z on the floor. If he played 24 minutes a game instead of 17, I probably would have put him on the team.
Robby: To be blunt — nobody. Kylan Boswell and Zvonimir Ivisic have proven to be good defenders on this Illinois team, but the overall unit has not been good enough this season.
If I had to choose one, I would agree with Ty and give Big Z the honors as the best defender for the Illini. He ranks No. 4 nationally in block percentage at 13.68 but has not logged enough minutes to be in serious contention for any defensive awards.
All-Freshman Team
Cuscago Ty:
Keaton Wagler, Illinois *Freshman of the Year
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
David Mirkovic, Illinois
Andre Mills, Maryland
Braden Frager, Nebraska
Robby Nardini:
Keaton Wagler, Illinois *Freshman of the Year
David Mirkovic, Illinois
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Braden Frager, Nebraska
Trey McKenney, Michigan
Best Illinois freshman season since?
Robby: Keaton Wagler is having the best freshman season in Illinois basketball history. He will win Big Ten Freshman of the Year and be selected as a First Team All-Big Ten player. Kasparas Jakucionis had one of the best freshman seasons in Illinois history last year, but Wagler has outdone him.
Wagler is averaging 18.1 points per game, five rebounds, and 4.3 assists, while Jakucionis averaged 15 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. Cory Bradford, Deon Thomas, Kiwane Garris, Kofi Cockburn, and Will Riley all had generational freshman seasons in the Orange and Blue, but Keaton Wagler is in a league of his own.
Ty: Keaton Wagler is the best Illinois freshman since Doctor James Naismith invented basketball. Some names from the 60’s and 70’s like Dave Downey and Nick Weatherspoon had strong statistical first years but were technically sophomores as all freshmen sat out in those days and redshirts didn’t exist, so I don’t really count them. Speaking of Doctor Naismith, Wagler made the most recent list of 15 players being considered for the Naismith National Player of the Year, which is a good sign that he has a very good chance at making an All-American Team. No Illini freshman has ever made an All-American team. Lastly, while Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley came pretty close last year, Keaton Wagler will almost certainly become the first Illini freshman to go in the lottery this summer. A truly historic season for the kid from Shawnee, Kansas.
Would David Mirkovic win Freshman of the Year in most other years?
Robby: David Mirkovic is having an underrated freshman season alongside future Big Ten Freshman of the Year Keaton Wagler. Mirkovic does not get as much attention as Wagler, but he will likely still earn Big Ten Freshman Team honors. I do believe the Montenegrin forward would win Big Ten Freshman of the Year in many other seasons.
Derik Queen likely would have won the award last year, but in 2023-24 Owen Freeman shared the award with Mackenzie Mgbako, and I believe Mirkovic would have won it that season. Mirkovic is currently averaging 12.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game this season.
Ty: While I love Mirk Nowitzki’s game, I think he would only have a case for Big Ten Freshman of the Year in fairly weak years. Even if Keaton Wagler played like a regular 3-star freshman, Hannes Steinbach would have been a near unanimous choice for the award this year. Going back the past ten years, I think Mirkovic would be the clear winner in the aforementioned Freeman/Mgbako season and have a decent case in 2018-19 when Ignas Brazdeikas won the award. Any other season, there was pretty much always a lottery pick playing like a lottery pick to take the award.
Sixth Man of the Year
Cuscago Ty: Tariq Francis, Rutgers
Robby Nardini: Braden Frager, Nebraska
Frager or Francis, explain your pick:
Robby: Francis and Frager both have strong cases for Sixth Man of the Year, but I lean toward Frager, mostly because of team success. Francis is leading Rutgers in scoring at 16.9 points per game, but Rutgers has just five conference wins this season.
Frager is averaging 11.9 points per game, but he averages more rebounds than Francis and contributes to winning in numerous ways. Nebraska is a top-four seed in the conference and a projected three seed in the NCAA Tournament, so I lean toward Frager despite him averaging fewer points per game.
Ty: When I look at Big Ten awards, I tend to factor Big Ten stats more than the entire season. Most players stats dip when they get into conference season, but that is actually when Francis took off. He averaged 18.1 points per game in conference games, while Frager only had 11.6, and Francis also had a tidy 3.2/0.9 assist to turnover ratio. Averaging less than a turnover per game as a ball dominant guard is incredibly impressive. While I respect Frager plays for a winner, the gulf in their statistical output is too large for me to choose the player on a winning team.
There are two reasons I would not pick Tariq Francis for Sixth man. The first is because the whole idea of bringing him off the bench almost seems like a gimmick by Steve Pickiell. He is Rutgers best player and plays 27.8 minutes a game, did Rutgers just want someone on their woeful team to get recognized with an award? The second is he might have started too many games to be eligible. I focused on his Big Ten season, when he only started eight of twenty games, only three more than Will Riley who won the award last year. However, on the season he started over 50 percent of their games, which might disqualify him, in which case I would go with Frager.
Coach of the Year
Cuscago Ty: Dusty May, Michigan
Robby Nardini: Dusty May, Michigan
Will Brad Underwood ever win this award?
Robby: Underwood has been knocking on the door for this award but has not gotten over the hump just yet. I would like to believe he was in the running in 2021, 2022 and 2024. He is a three-time Southland Coach of the Year from his time at Stephen F. Austin, but he has yet to win Big Ten Coach of the Year despite having the most wins in the conference since 2020.
I do believe Underwood will eventually win the award when Illinois finally captures an outright Big Ten regular-season title. Underwood does have one share of the title, but Wisconsin’s Greg Gard won Coach of the Year that season.
Ty: Brad Underwood: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. The year that hurts most for me is the conference awarding Juwan Howard for taking John Beilein’s players and refusing to make up Covid games to win a conference title. History shows that Juwan is a terrible college coach, so him having a Coach of the Year award while Brad does not is a bad look for the conference. I do expect him to break through and get one, perhaps without even winning the conference outright, as voter fatigue is real and he’s getting to the point where he will win sympathy lifetime achievement votes.
May vs. Hoiberg for Coach of the Year. Why Dusty May?
Robby: May is my pick for the Coach of the Year award, as Michigan is having a generational season and is the favorite to win the national championship. They finished Big Ten play with more wins than any team has ever recorded in the Big 10 and have lost just two games all season. The preseason expectation was that Michigan would finish second in the league, but they have blown those already high expectations out of the water.
There is a case for Hoiberg to win the award since Nebraska has overachieved more than almost anyone in the country, but I still believe May deserves it for how dominant the Wolverines have been this season. May should also be in the running for National Coach of the Year with Hoiberg, Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd.
Ty: I am a believer that Coach of the Year can be given to someone who greatly outperforms a lower NIL budget like Hoiberg has even if they do not win the league, but what Michigan has done this year is too dominant to ignore. As Robby mentioned, their nineteen conference wins are the most in Big Ten history. The last time a Big Ten team went through the whole Big Ten slate with just one loss was Ohio State in 2007, when they played just sixteen games, and the last time a Big Ten team went undefeated in conference was Indiana, back when they were relevant in 1976. If Michigan had gone 17-3 in conference I could have made a strong case for Hoiberg, but winning the conference by four games makes it a landslide decision for me.
