For the first time in two decades, the Ohio State men’s basketball team did not place a single player as high as third-team all-Big Ten. Monday evening, the conference announced that Keita Bates-Diop, Marc Loving and Jae’Sean Tate are honorable mention all-Big Ten as voted by both the coaches and media. The last time the Buckeyes didn’t have a player on any all-league team was in 1996, when they went 10-17 overall and 3-15 in the Big Ten. >> Keep up with BuckeyeXtra on Facebook and Twitter This season is only the third during Thad Matta’s 12 at Ohio State that the Buckeyes do not have a first-team all-Big Ten player. The coaches and media voted Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine, Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff, Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell, Purdue’s A.J. Hammons and Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes to the first team. Valentine, Uthoff and Ferrell are unanimous choices. Valentine was named player of the year, and Hammons is defensive player of the year. >> Hoops & Scoops blog | Two Buckeyes who merited a closer look for all-conference awards Illinois’ Malcolm Hill, Michigan State’s Bryn Forbes, Iowa’s Peter Jok and Maryland’s Melo Trimble were all voted second-team by the coaches and media, while the coaches voted for Nebraska’s Shavon Shields and the media voted for Michigan State’s Matt Costello. Indiana’s Tom Crean was voted Big Ten coach of the year after leading the Hoosiers to an outright conference title, and Max Bielfeldt was named sixth man of the year. Wisconsin’s Ethan Happy was voted freshman of the year and to the all-freshman team, where he was joined by Indiana’s Thomas Bryant, Maryland’s Diamond Stone, Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan. ajardy@dispatch.com @AdamJardy
Continue Reading: Men’s basketball | Big Ten awards: Honorable mentions best the Buckeyes can do
