Purdue's Braden Smith is AP's Big
Ten player of the year, Izzo is top coach, Tonje newcomer of year
[March 12, 2025]
By ERIC OLSON
Braden Smith of Purdue was named the Associated Press Big Ten player
of year on Tuesday, Michigan State's Tom Izzo the coach of the year
and Wisconsin's John Tonje the newcomer of the year.
Smith continued the Boilermakers' hold on the top individual honor
after Zach Edey won it the past two seasons. Smith backed up his
selection as conference preseason player of the year by averaging
16.3 points, 8.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He's the fourth
player in Division I history to have at least 500 points, 270
assists, 140 rebounds and 70 steals in a season.
Izzo won his record-tying 11th regular-season title while leading
the Spartans to 26 wins, their most since 2017-18. Their 17 Big Ten
wins were their most since the conference season was expanded to 20
games in 2021-22. The Spartans had a 13-game win streak in the
middle of the season, and they have won seven straight entering this
week's Big Ten Tournament.
Tonje joined the Badgers as a sixth-year graduate transfer after
playing his first four seasons at Colorado State and his fifth at
Missouri. Tonje averaged 18.9 points per game. He had four 30-point
games, including a career-high 41 against Arizona.
Smith is a repeat All-Big Ten first-team selection and the only
unanimous pick by the voting panel of 14 journalists who cover the
league. Joining Smith and Tonje on the first team are Nebraska's
Brice Williams, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn and Michigan's Danny
Wolf.
Williams was the Big Ten's second-leading scorer overall with 20
points per game. His 20.7-point average in conference play led the
Big Ten.
Kaufman-Renn led Purdue with 19.7 points per game, 20.5 in
conference play, and 6.1 rebounds.
Wolf and second-team pick Vladislav Goldin formed the Big Ten's best
big-man tandem. Wolf averaged a Big Ten-leading 9.7 rebounds to go
with his 12.9 points per game, and the 7-footer shot 34.4% on
3-pointers and was second on the team in assists.
First team
u-Guard — Braden Smith, Purdue, Jr., 6-0, 170, Westfield, Indiana.
G — John Tonje, Wisconsin, Gr., 6-5, 218, Omaha, Nebraska.
G — Brice Williams, Nebraska, Sr., 6-7, 214, Huntersville, North
Carolina.
F — Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue, Jr., 6-9, 230, Sellersburg, Indiana.
F/C — Danny Wolf, Michigan, Jr., 7-0, 250, Glencoe, Illinois.
—“u” denotes unanimous selection.
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Purdue's Braden Smith looks to pass during an NCAA college
basketball game against Illinois, Friday, March 7, 2025, in
Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Craig Pessman)
Second team
G — Bruce Thornton, Ohio State, Jr., 6-2, 215, Fairburn, Georgia.
G — Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois, Fr., 6-6, 205, Vilnius,
Lithuania.
F — Nick Martinelli, Northwestern, Jr., 6-7, 220, Glenview,
Illinois.
C — Derik Queen, Maryland, Fr., 6-10, 246, Baltimore.
C — Vladislav Goldin, Michigan, Gr., 7-1, 250, Voronezh, Russia.
Individual honors
Coach of the year — Tom Izzo, Michigan State.
Player of the year — Braden Smith, Purdue.
Newcomer of the year — John Tonje, Wisconsin.
Voting panel
Nick Bahe, Fox Sports; Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News, Fox Sports;
Dave Eanet, WGN Radio (Chicago); Brian Fonseca, New Jersey Advance
Media; Marcus Fuller, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Adam Jardy, Columbus
Dispatch; Stephen Jones, Penn State Sports Network; Andrew Kahn,
MLive.com (Ann Arbor, Michigan); Michael McCleary, Wisconsin State
Journal (Madison, Wisconsin); Wilson Moore, Omaha (Nebraska)
World-Herald; Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star; Dave Preston, WTOP
Radio (Washington, D.C.); Scott Richey, Champaign (Illinois)
News-Gazette; Dylan Sinn, Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal Gazette.
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