In honor of the college season finally tipping off Friday in various locales, we at the Big Ten microsite decided to get together and vote for our preseason all-league teams. We will cover potential Sixth Man of the Year candidates and reveal our preseason Freshman of the Year later this week. We’ll also be revealing how the teams will finish in the league standings four at a time starting Wednesday. Today we introduce our preseason All-Big Ten Second Team; the First Team will be unveiled tomorrow.

Yogi Ferrell Leads a Strong Sophomore Group in the Big Ten

RTC All-Big Ten Second Team

• Yogi Ferrell, Sophomore, Indiana 6’0″ 178 lbs. ( 7.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.1 APG). Ferrell is the only returning starter for the Hoosiers, and unlike last year, he will be called upon to be a leader in addition to picking up his scoring output. The exposure of playing overseas on the World University Games was a good start toward taking on a more important role. Indiana’s team expectations are tempered from last season, but they’re also still considered a top 30 team nationally. If Ferrell can take the next step as a floor general in a league full of good ones, then they’ll end up ranked higher than that.
• Glenn Robinson III, Sophomore, Michigan 6’6″ 220 lbs. ( 11.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 57.2% FG). The key with Robinson this year is that like Ferrell, he will be expected to shoulder a heavier load due to what his team lost. Projected by many as a lottery pick had he left college last year, Robinson will look to keep his NBA stock trending upward by showing off a versatile skill set that enables him to shoot from deep and get to the basket. It will be interesting to see if he can still shoot such a high percentage as a primary offensive option. Unlike Ferrell, Robinson has more help around him, though, and he will likely be a catalyst for another outstanding year in Ann Arbor.

• Nik Stauskas, Sophomore, Michigan 6’6″ 205 lbs. (11.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 85.1 FT%, 44.6% 3FG). Stauskas arrived on the scene by absolutely shooting lights out at the beginning of the year. To wit, he shot 56.5 percent from deep in non-conference games (39-of-69), but he then cooled off to the tune of 36.3 percent in B1G games. Whether teams figured him out and took away his clean looks or he went into a slump, he has to try to find a happy medium this season. With the added weight he put on, look for him to try to be more aggressive in getting to the rim, where he can take advantage of his  elite free throw shooting. Stauskas also flashed some decent ball-handling and passing skills when needed last year, and should show off more of a complete game when called upon this season.
• Aaron White, Junior, Iowa 6’9″ 220 lbs. (12.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.1 steals, 46.8% FG). White’s attributes were examined in an earlier post, but this alumnus from the World University Games team should enjoy quite a bit more exposure on an experienced Iowa team that is looking toward much loftier team goals this year. White offers a diverse skill set for a 6’9″ player; he can rebound, step outside and hit a mid-range jumper, and is also elite at getting to the free throw line. If he can get fouled as frequently as last year while improving his percentage to the near-80 percent range, he could be one of the best scorers in the conference. Iowa is getting a lot of love nationally this preseason, and if the Hawkeyes play like they’re capable of, White could be the face of this resurgence.
• Tim Frazier, Senior, Penn State 6’1″ 170 lbs. (Stats from 2011-12: 18.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.2 APG, 2.4 SPG). We already raised the possibility that the return of Frazier might be enough to make the combination of he and D.J. Newbill the best backcourt in the conference. An Achilles injury limited Frazier to just four games in 2012-13, and thus ended Penn State’s chance of having anything remotely close to a good season. Going back to 2011-12, Frazier went from being the Robin to Talor Battle’s Batman to taking over and having a breakout campaign. Breakout is almost an understatement, as his numbers across the board were outstanding that season. Penn State has a lot of question marks elsewhere in the lineup, but if they can pencil in 19 points, seven assists and a couple steals from their point guard, then they will be better than they were in 2012-13 by default.

Brendan Brody (307 Posts)

Brendan Brody is in his fourth season covering the Big Ten for RTC. Email him at brendan.brody@gmail.com, or follow him on twitter @berndon4.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 5th, 2013 at 12:31 pm by Brendan Brody and is filed under big ten, microsites. Tagged: aaron white, big ten, glenn robinson iii, indiana, iowa, michigan, nik stauskas, penn state, tim frazier, yogi ferrell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.