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Purdue, Braden Smith take top honors in annual media poll; Ohio State picked eighth
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- Purdue, Braden Smith take top honors in annual media poll; Ohio State picked eighth
Purdue will play its first season without two-time national player of the year Zach Edey. The Boilermakers will do so facing a barrage of questions about life after the 7-4 star whose jersey already hangs in the Mackey Arena rafters, and they will search for answers amid a Big Ten larger than it's ever been.
None of that was enough to deter voters from voting Purdue as the league favorite in the eighth annual unofficial official Big Ten media poll. In this year's poll, conducted jointly now by The Columbus Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star , Purdue was picked as the league's favorite ahead of rival Indiana and new arrival UCLA.
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The Boilermakers not only received 20 of 33 first-place votes, but one of Edey's former teammates is projected to pick up where he left off. After averaging 12.0 points and 7.5 assists while shooting 43.1% from 3-point range, junior guard Braden Smith was picked as the Big Ten's preseason player of the year.
Feb 18, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) walks up court after a turnover during the first half of the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena.
Smith, the only returning first-team all-Big Ten player from last season, received 27 votes. He was also the leading vote-getter for the preseason all-conference teams, receiving 32 of 33 possible first-team votes.
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Michigan State is the last team to win at least a share of three straight Big Ten regular-season titles, doing so from 2018-20. Purdue is the first team to win consecutive titles outright since Ohio State in 2006 and 2007. The Boilermakers are the last program to win three straight outright Big Ten titles, doing so from 1994-96.
The second-place Hoosiers received seven first-place votes and placed former Arizona big man Oumar Ballo as the league's preseason transfer of the year. The 7-0, 260-pound senior also joins Smith on the Big Ten's first team.
Reflecting a wide range of opinions on the league, six teams each received at least one first-place vote. UCLA and Illinois each received two votes while Michigan State and Ohio State each received one. Minnesota was picked to finish last, receiving only 61 points and a league-high 21 last-place votes.
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler is one of four first-year coaches in the league , and his Buckeyes have the highest projection from the group. The Buckeyes were picked to finish eighth, ahead of Michigan (Dusty May) at No. 9, USC (Eric Musselman) at No. 14 and Washington (Danny Sprinkle) at No. 15.
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Junior guard Bruce Thornton , the Big Ten's third-leading returning scorer at 15.7 points per game, joined Smith, Ballo, Rutger's Dylan Harper and Iowa's Payton Sandfort as a first-team all-Big Ten pick.
Led by a freshman class boasting two top-five national recruits, Rutgers was picked to finish seventh while its two touted newcomers each received superlatives. Harper edged out Ace Bailey for freshman of the year, receiving 17.5 votes to Bailey's 12.5. One voter declined to decide between the two, giving the two Scarlet Knights a split vote. Harper was named first-team all-league and Bailey picked up second-team honors.
Mar 26, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) drives to the basket during the second half of the NIT quarterfinals against the Georgia Bulldogs at Value City Arena. Ohio State lost 79-77.
Oregon's Jackson Shelstad, Penn State's Ace Baldwin Jr., Washington's Great Osobor and Minnesota's Dawson Garcia were voted second-team all-league.
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The annual poll features at least one writer covering each Big Ten team. In this first year of the 18-team Big Ten, 33 media members participated in the poll.
Projected Big Ten standings (first-place votes in parenthesis):
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Purdue, 572 (20)
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Indiana, 549 (7)
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UCLA, 510 (2)
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Illinois, 458 (2)
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Michigan State, 448 (1)
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Oregon, 412
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Rutgers, 391
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Ohio State, 369 (1)
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Michigan, 342
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Maryland, 263
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Iowa, 249T-12 Wisconsin, 212T-12 Nebraska, 212
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USC, 196
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Washington, 158
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Northwestern, 153
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Penn State, 87
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Minnesota, 62
Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
Braden Smith, Purdue (27). Also receiving votes: Oumar Ballo, Indiana, Ace Bailey, Rutgers (2); Kobe Johnson, UCLA, Payton Sandfort, Iowa (1).
Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Dylan Harper, Rutgers (19.5). Also receiving votes: Ace Bailey, Rutgers (12.5); Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois (1).
Big Ten Transfer of the Year
Oumar Ballo, Indiana (17). Also receiving votes: Great Osobor, Washington, Myles Rice, Indiana (4); Vlad Goldin, Michigan (3); Kylan Boswell, Illinois, (2); Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA, Ja'Kobe Gillespie, Maryland, Saint Thomas, USC (1).
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First-team All-Big Ten
Braden Smith, Purdue (64)Payton Sandford, Iowa (48)Oumar Ballo, Indiana (47) Bruce Thornton, Ohio State (34)Dylan Harper, Rutgers (32)
Second-team All-Big Ten
Jackson Shelstad, Oregon (30)Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State (26)Great Osobor, Washington (26)Ace Bailey, Rutgers (25)Dawson Garcia, Minnesota (23)
Also receiving votes: Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern, Malik Reneau, Indiana (19); Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice, Indiana (13); Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois (12); Vlad Goldin, Michigan (11); Desmond Claude, USC, Julian Reese, Maryland (7); Dylan Andrews, UCLA (6); Brice Williams, Nebraska (5); Jaden Akins, Michigan State, Kylan Boswell, Illinois (4); Xavier Booker, Michigan State, Kobe Johnson, UCLA (3); Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA, Frankie Fidler, Michigan State, Owen Freeman, Iowa, Ja'Kobe Gillespie, Maryland, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Indiana, Saint Thomas, USC (2); Meechie Johnson Jr., Ohio State, Fletcher Loyer, Purdue, Sebastian Mack, UCLA (1).
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Purdue favorites, Ohio State picked eighth in preseason media poll
