Indiana sits atop Big Ten in preseason men's basketball media poll
One of the final teams selected to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Indiana will now enter this season as the favorite to win the Big Ten.
In the annual preseason media poll of beat writers from around the conference conducted jointly by The Dispatch and The Athletic, the Hoosiers and second-year coach Mike Woodson received 19 first-place votes and 377 total points to finish ahead of Illinois and Michigan in the poll. The Hoosiers have 22 Big Ten titles, second-most in conference history, and last won the league in 2015-16 under coach Tom Crean.
In a league with no first-team all-conference players returning, the Hoosiers bring back a league-best 78.1% of their minutes played from a season ago and are led by fourth-year big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, one of two unanimous selections to the preseason first-team all-conference team.
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Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson was the other, and the third-year center edged Jackson-Davis out by one vote to earn preseason player of the year honors. Dickinson and Jackson-Davis are one-two among the leading returning scorers and rebounders in the Big Ten: Dickinson averaged 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds while Jackson-Davis averaged 18.3 and 8.1, respectively.
Jackson-Davis’ teammate, Jalen Hood-Schifino, was voted Big Ten preseason freshman of the year. The 6-6, 215-pound forward was ranked No. 23 nationally in the 2022 recruiting class by 247Sports.com and is the top-rated freshman in the league. Senior Indiana guard Xavier Johnson was also picked second-team all-conference.
With that trio, the Hoosiers were picked comfortably ahead of Illinois (339 points) and third-place Michigan (328). Illinois newcomer Terrence Shannon Jr., a Chicago native who spent the last three seasons at Texas Tech, was picked as the league’s preseason transfer of the year after averaging 10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game for the Red Raiders last season. Shannon was also a second-team all-conference selection.
The preseason first team has plenty of size. Joining Dickinson and Jackson-Davis are Purdue center Zach Edey, Iowa forward Kris Murray and Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi. Of the five, only Murray is shorter than 6-9, and he checks in at 6-8.
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The second team has some more positional variety. In addition to Shannon and Johnson, Minnesota forward Jamison Battle and Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn and forward Tyler Wahl fill out the list. In all, 18 other players received at least one vote for either the first or second teams.
Five teams received first-place votes. Illinois got six while Michigan, Purdue and Iowa each received one. In the cellar, Nebraska (16) and Northwestern (10) combined to receive all but two of 28 last-place votes.
Ohio State finished sixth in the balloting. The Buckeyes were picked to finish as high as second and as low as tenth in the standings, and two players received all-Big Ten votes: sixth-year forward Justice Sueing tied with Illinois’ Matthew Mayer finished tied for 13th in the voting with nine points while third-year center Zed Key was tied with five other players in 17th with two points.
Here are the full results:
Standings (first-place votes in parenthesis)
Indiana, 377 (19)
Illinois, 339 (6)
Michigan, 328 (1)
Michigan State, 281
Purdue, 279 (1)
Ohio State, 253
Iowa, 235 (1)
Rutgers, 202
Wisconsin, 191
Maryland, 153
Penn State, 118
Minnesota, 86
Northwestern, 56
Nebraska, 42
Player of the year:Hunter Dickinson, Michigan, 14
Also receiving votes: Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), 13; Kris Murray (Iowa), 1
Freshman of the year:Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana, 16
Also receiving votes: Skyy Clark (Illinois) 7; Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State) 2; Ty Rodgers (Illinois), Jett Howard (Michigan), Tre Holloman (Michigan State), 1.
Transfer of the year:Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois, 16
Also receiving votes: Matthew Mayer (Illinois), 4; Jaelin Llewellyn (Michigan), 3; Jahmir Young (Maryland), 3; Dawson Garcia (Minnesota), 2
First Team All-Big Ten, with votes (unanimous selections in all caps): HUNTER DICKINSON, MICHIGAN, 56; TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS, INDIANA, 56; Zach Edey, Purdue, 52; Kris Murray, Iowa, 49; Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers, 30.
Second Team All-Big Ten: Terrance Shannon Jr., Illinois, 29; Jamison Battle, Minnesota, 24; Xavier Johnson, Indiana, 20; Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin, 15; Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin, 14.
Also receiving votes: Malik Hall, Michigan State, 13; Jalen Pickett, Penn State, 11; Matthew Mayer, Justice Sueing (Ohio State), 9; Donta Scott, Maryland, 8; Caleb McConnell, Rutgers, 5; Patrick McCaffery, Iowa, 3; AJ Hoggard (Michigan State), Zed Key (Ohio State), Jaelin Llewellyn, Paul Mulcahy (Rutgers), Race Thompson (Indiana), Jahmir Young (Maryland), 2; Boo Buie (Northwestern), Dawson Garcia, Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), RJ Melendez (Illinois), Tyson Walker (Michigan State), 1.
Note: Players received two points for a first-team vote and one point for a second-team vote.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Ten media poll picks Indiana as preseason league favorites
