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Wisconsin's Devin Harris became
the first Badgers standout in school history to earn the Big Ten's
highest honor as he was chosen as the conference player of the year
in voting by both the coaches and the media.
Harris is the third
underclassmen to collect the award in the past four years, along
with sophomores Jared Jeffries of Indiana in 2002 and Frank Williams
of Illinois in 2001. He is the first junior to be honored since
Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves and Ohio State's Scoonie Penn shared
the award in 1999.
Harris, who was named the
Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by the coaches back in October,
was also the lone unanimous selection to the all-conference first
team.
He helped the Badgers to a 12-4
league record, just one game shy of a third straight title.
The 6-3 guard ranked second in
Big Ten games only, with 20.9 points per game, just percentage
points off the league lead. He nearly doubled his scoring average of
10.6 points per outing from a year ago. He also rated among the top
10 in 3-pointers made (second at 2.75), assist-to-turnover ratio
(fourth at 2.21), assists (sixth with 3.88) and steals (seventh with
1.62).
Purdue's Kenneth Lowe became
just the fourth player in Big Ten annals to collect defensive player
of the year accolades in consecutive seasons. Other two-time winners
were Ohio State's Ken Johnson in 2000-01, Michigan's Gary Grant in
1987-88 and Illinois' Bruce Douglas in 1985-86. Lowe is the third
Boilermaker in school history to nab the award, following Porter
Roberts in 1996 and Ricky Hall in 1984.
The senior guard helped Purdue
rank among the top two in the league for all games in scoring
defense (second at 60.2 ppg), field goal percentage defense (second
at .408) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (first at .291).
Northwestern's Bill Carmody was
tabbed as the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the media, making him the
first Wildcat mentor to collect that honor in the 32-year history of
the award. Carmody's squad produced an 8-8 mark this season, the
best finish of his four years in Evanston and the first .500 record
for the program in more than 35 years. The 1967-68 team was the last
to accomplish that feat, with a record of 8-6.
Minnesota's Kris Humphries was
the clear choice as the conference freshman of the year by both
coaches and media after becoming the first freshman in Big Ten
history to lead the way in both scoring and rebounding. He edged
Harris for the Big Ten scoring title in the final game of the
regular season to average 21.0 points per outing while topping all
players with 9.5 boards per contest.
Humphries became just the sixth
player in league annals to lead in both categories and the first
since Purdue's Glenn Robinson accomplished the feat as a sophomore
during the 1994 campaign. The 6-9 forward is the second Gopher to
earn the award in the last three years. Rick Rickert became the
first Minnesota honoree in 2002.
Humphries was joined on the Big
Ten's all-freshman team by four other first-year standouts:
Michigan's Dion Harris and Courtney Sims, Michigan State's Shannon
Brown, and Penn State's Marlon Smith.
The all-Big Ten teams this year
were dominated by underclassmen, as 12 of the 16 selections have a
chance to return to their teams next season. The first teams
selected by Big Ten coaches and by the media both included Harris,
Humphries, sophomores Deron Williams of Illinois and Paul Davis of
Michigan State, and senior Jitim Young of Northwestern. Each of
those standouts collected first team honors for the first time in
their careers, and Harris and Young earned all-league honors for the
second straight season.
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The complete list of the
all-Big Ten teams and awards follows.
All-Big Ten
selections by the coaches
(* indicates 2004-05 eligibility)
First team
Paul Davis,* Michigan State
Devin Harris,* Wisconsin,
unanimous selection
Kris Humphries,* Minnesota
Deron Williams,* Illinois
Jitim Young, Northwestern
Second team
Dee Brown,* Illinois
Chris Hill,* Michigan State
Kenneth Lowe, Purdue
Mike Wilkinson,* Wisconsin
Bracey Wright,* Indiana
Third team
Lester Abram,* Michigan
Jeff Horner,* Iowa
Pierre Pierce,* Iowa
Velimir Radinovic, Ohio State
Bernard Robinson Jr., Michigan
Honorable mention
James Augustine,* Illinois
Jan Jagla,* Penn State
Roger Powell,* Illinois
Marshall Strickland,* Indiana
David Teague,* Purdue
Kelvin Torbert,* Michigan State
Vedran Vukusic,* Northwestern
All-freshman team
Shannon Brown,* Michigan State
Dion Harris,* Michigan
Kris Humphries,* Minnesota
Courtney Sims,* Michigan
Marlon Smith,* Penn State
Player of the year
Devin Harris,* Wisconsin
Freshman of the year
Kris Humphries,* Minnesota
Defensive player of the year
Kenneth Lowe, Purdue
Repeat performers
First team: Harris (second in
2003), Young (third)
Second team: Brown (third),
Hill (second), Lowe (third), Wright (third)
Third team: Robinson (third)
All-Big Ten
selections by the media
(* indicates 2004-05 eligibility)
First team
Paul Davis,* Michigan State
Devin Harris,* Wisconsin,
unanimous selection
Kris Humphries,* Minnesota
Deron Williams,* Illinois
Jitim Young, Northwestern
Second team
Dee Brown,* Illinois
Chris Hill,* Michigan State
Kenneth Lowe, Purdue
Mike Wilkinson,*Wisconsin
Bracey Wright, Indiana
Third team
Lester Abram,* Michigan
Jeff Horner,* Iowa
Pierre Pierce,* Iowa
Bernard Robinson Jr., Michigan
Kelvin Torbert,* Michigan State
Honorable mention
James Augustine,* Illinois
A.J. Moye, Indiana
Roger Powell,* Illinois
Velimir Radinovic, Ohio State
Vedran Vukusic,* Northwestern
Player of the year
Devin Harris,* Wisconsin
Freshman of the year
Kris Humphries,* Minnesota,
unanimous selection
Coach of the year
Bill Carmody, Northwestern
Repeat performers
First team: Harris (third in
2003)
Second team: Brown (second),
Hill (second), Lowe (third), Wright (third)
Third team: Robinson (third)
[Big Ten news release
provided by Scott Chipman] |
