Hoopla's Big Ten Preseason Rankings and Honors
Featuring mostly an agreement with coaches and media
The Big Ten announced its preseason top five teams, the 10 players on the All-Big Ten team and its preseason player of the year on Thursday. You can read those picks here. You can also read many of the same picks in a few paragraphs, as I will now make my selections.
Top Five Teams
The coaches and media differed on the order, and teams, that will finish top five in the Big Ten this season. Since I have sort of spoiled my ranking for this with all the previews, here’s what I have as my top five:
This completely mirrors the media’s ranking, while the coaches had Ohio State at 2, Indiana at 3 and Michigan at 5, while Iowa and Maryland remained at 1 and 4, respectively.
Let’s start at the top. Iowa is the consensus top pick here, from both me and everyone else. This is a stacked roster with a true star and an excellent supporting cast that has loads of experience playing with each other. It’s a pretty easy pick at the top.
Indiana and Ohio State as the next tier also makes sense. Both were great last year and stayed relatively in tact. The Buckeyes are very much the same key pieces that won the Big Ten regular season last year, plus Madison Greene, who is returning from injury. The Hoosiers lost some vets but kept Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger while adding sharpshooter Sara Scalia and former five-star Sydney Parrish. These two should be the next up after the Hawkeyes for Big Ten favorites.
Then there’s Maryland, correctly in the upper echelon, but not quite at the top like it often has been in the past. The Terps are, once again, full of talent, but have so many new pieces coming in through the transfer portal. It’s likely that this is a very good team once again, but the lack of established chemistry could cause some early losses.
Finally, Nebraska vs. Michigan. If I knew what I know now, that being Sam Haiby is out for the year with a leg injury, I probably agree with the coaches and move the Wolverines up to No. 5. I still think the Cornhuskers are capable of a top-five finish, but that’s a tough, tough loss to take.
All-Big Ten Team
The coaches and media agreed with the same 10 players for this list. I agree with 8 of those 10 picks, with my new entries having asterisks (*).
Here’s my list:
Caitlin Clark, Iowa — Player of the Year
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Monika Czinano, Iowa
Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
Grace Berger, Indiana
Jaz Shelley, Nebraska*
Taylor Mikesell, Ohio State
Makenna Marisa, Penn State
Leigha Brown, Michigan
Sara Scalia, Indiana*
Just missed: Alexis Markowski, Nebraska | Diamond Miller, Maryland | Emily Kiser, Michigan | McKenna Warnock, Iowa | Maddie Nolan, Michigan
For starters, this was extremely difficult, and I think the 10 that the coaches and media decided on make sense. Diamond Miller was a no-brainer pick two seasons ago and was battling injuries in the 2021-22 campaign. She has a great shot to get back on this list by the end of the year, I just like the names above her more here.
Alexis Markowski was the Big Ten Freshmen of the Year and could be even better in year two. I just worry about some regression in areas like the three ball, where she hit half of her 42 attempts. If I had an 11th spot, Markowski got it, but I have her edged out by two newcomers, one of which is her teammate.
Only four players are back in the Big Ten after finishing with at least eight win shares in 2021-22. Those four players are Caitlin Clark (12.2), Monika Czinano (9.3), Jacy Sheldon (9.2) and Jaz Shelley (8.1). Three of those players were unanimous selections by at least one of the polls. The other didn’t even make the top 10.
Shelley’s numbers last year (13.1 PPG/6.3 RPG/5.0 APG/1.8 SPG) were excellent on their own. To do that on excellent efficiency (40.6 3PT%) while also being one of the best defensive guards in the conference should be enough to crack the top 10 here. Shelley is going to be relied on even more this season with Haiby out, and her numbers could explode because of it.
My other addition was Scalia, who scored 17.9 PPG and shot 41.3 percent from three on a much worse Big Ten team than she’s about to be on. Scalia could break out in a big way at Indiana thanks to the roster the Hoosiers have built.
Thoughts about the eight players I agreed with from coaches and media:
The player of the year pick is easy, with Clark’s outrageous numbers keeping her well above the pack. Ranking players after that was extremely difficult, but I think Holmes would be next likely to take the player of the year crown with her tremendous scoring talent.
Czinano may get underrated by being Clark’s teammate, but she is a star in her own right and has become one of the nation’s best offensive forwards.
Jacy Sheldon took over point guard duties for Ohio State without Greene and played excellently, but I think her highest ceiling is playing off the ball. Greene is back and Taylor Mikesell returned, so the floor will be open for Sheldon to do even more damage.
Almost no one is as reliable as Grace Berger, an all-around weapon that is deadly from anywhere inside the arc. Scalia and Holmes should help make Berger a triple-double threat this season.
Mikesell was almost impossibly good from three last year, and if she can replicate that to any degree, she will stay a lock for the first-team and probably will get some looks at the WNBA.
If anyone is going to match, or get even close, to Clark’s stats, it will be Makenna Marisa. She is unquestionably a top 10 talent in the Big Ten and has put up the numbers to prove that. Her defense is a concern and I’m not sure how much the team improved around her, but there is no doubt that Marisa will once again put up some insane production.
Finally, Leigha Brown, who is most likely to become Michigan’s top scoring threat without Naz Hillmon. I have both Emily Kiser and Maddie Nolan just missing the cut, as all three will get increased volume as the key veteran pieces, but Brown should be expected to take over and see a sizable increase in the box score.
I largely agree in general (especially with your Shelley pick, I had her in there) but I will say that I think both Abby Meyers and Maryland in general are being underhyped. It was almost certainly too bold of me to pick them first (I did it anyway though so there), but given her career to date, I think she certainly deserved at least a look as an All-Big Ten team member. Anyway everything you wrote was great!