It’s the eve of the start of the college basketball season and we’re well into our preseason awards lists. We’ve already released our third team all-conference selections and our projected league standings (#14-#8 and #7-#1), so now it’s time to unveil our All-Big Ten second team. Here are the next five best players in the league, as voted on by our three-man staff.

A healthy Caris LeVert is poised for a big senior season (Gregory Shamus, Getty).

• Bronson Koenig (JR, Guard, Wisconsin). Koenig stepped into the starting point guard spot for the Badgers last January after Traeveon Jackson suffered an untimely foot injury. The sophomore started the remaining 24 games, averaging 11.5 points per contest and producing an offensive rating (120.7), turnover percentage (11.3%) and three-point percentage (40.5%) that were all better than those of Jackson. As a junior, Koenig is primed for an even bigger year in his first full season as the starting point guard.
• Caris LeVert (SR, Guard, Michigan). LeVert led the Wolverines in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks through 18 games last year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Michigan struggled to keep its head above water when he was healthy (11-7), but the team plummeted after his injury (5-9). Much like last season, the Wolverines have a deep and talented backcourt but an unproven and young frontcourt. John Beilein’s club should be better with Derrick Walton Jr. healthy and an improved Zak Irvin in the lineup, but LeVert will once again be this team’s leader. He can score many different ways and his length makes him a sturdy perimeter defender.

• James Blackmon Jr. (SO, Guard, Indiana). Blackmon was one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten last season, finishing eighth in the conference in scoring at 15.7 PPG and showing a good mixture of consistency (double figures in all but seven games) and explosiveness (20+ points in 10 games). He has range from well beyond the three-point line and also rebounds well for his position (5.3 RPG). Blackmon and teammate Yogi Ferrell may be the best one-two punch this league has to offer.
• Jarrod Uthoff (SR, Forward, Iowa). Speaking of one-two punches, Uthoff and Aaron White formed a great tandem for the Hawkeyes last season. He should be expected to match White’s all-Big Ten numbers as this year’s go-to scorer even if he’s not as adept as getting to the free throw line. He’s an effective perimeter player, and Iowa figures to become more perimeter-oriented this season without White in the post. Uthoff should be a top-five scorer in the Big Ten and is as valuable to his team as any other player in the conference.
• Troy Williams (JR, Forward, Indiana). The perfect four in Indiana’s fast-paced offense, Williams put together a breakout sophomore year by logging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He’s a freakish athlete who gets to the foul line, rebounds well and throws down nasty dunks. Indiana returns its top five scorers from a team that scored 77 PPG last season and Williams is a key to keeping opposing defenses from overloading on the Hoosiers’ backcourt.

Patrick Engel (33 Posts)

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2015 at 11:01 am by Patrick Engel and is filed under big ten, microsites. Tagged: all-big ten team, bronson koenig, Caris LeVert, james blackmon jr, jarrod uthoff, Troy Williams. 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.