Surprise! More Big Ten Women's Basketball Content
On a Thursday? In this economy???
When I started Hoopla, I said that Thursday posts will be about whatever I want to talk about.
Well, this week there is simply too much Big Ten women’s basketball stuff to talk about, so I’m bringing it here, not sorry for it!
If we are being real, more people read the Monday posts anyway — which I am grateful for, they are a lot more work — so I don’t think many of you will mind.
The conference tournament is underway, but that I will save for Monday. This, instead, is where I want to talk about the Big Ten awards that were given out. I did have a ballot (flex), so this felt like a good time to share what I agreed or disagreed with.
Player of the Year
Coaches and Media pick: Caitlin Clark, Iowa
My pick: Caitlin Clark, Iowa
This, for awhile, was not a lock in my eyes. Veronica Burton is the best defensive guard in the country and has been the reason Northwestern is on the NCAA Tournament bubble at all.
But then, Clark averaged 31.2 points and 8.5 assists across Iowa’s last 10 games to lead the Hawkeyes to a share of the conference title. That’s what winning players do, and that’s what Clark, a top-two player in the country, did.
Clark does get an extremely high volume of opportunities, and man does she turn the ball over, but she also does things that no one else in college basketball can do to help her team across the finish line, and her ability to stay composed as a shooter and facilitator late in games has been extremely impressive to watch.
Defensive Player of the Year
Coaches and Media pick: Veronica Burton, Northwestern
My pick: Veronica Burton, Northwestern
She averaged 4.1 steals per game. She’s won this award twice and was better defensively this year. This was the no-brainer to end no-brainers.
Freshman of the Year
Coaches and Media pick: Alexis Markowski, Nebraska
My pick: Alexis Markowski, Nebraska
Also a near lock, though the conference certainly had its fair share of strong first-year players. Shyanne Sellers from Maryland, Laila Phelia from Michigan and Mathilda Ek from Michigan State all played very well, but Markowski was huge for Nebraska week after week.
Markowski averaged 13.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 53.1 percent (!!) from three. This Nebraska team has the chance to be real nasty next year, and that starts with the year Markowski had.
Sixth Player of the Year
Coaches and Media pick: Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
My pick: Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
Still in agreement with the choices to this point. Sellers was terrific for the Terps all year, and is a key cog in the seven-player rotation that has Maryland red hot entering the tournament.
Coach of the Year
Coaches and Media pick: Kim Barnes Arico, Michigan
My pick: Amy Williams, Nebraska
I finally must disagree with my fellow voters, though I certainly understand the pick. I had KBA as the pick until Michigan lost to Iowa, but I think that, while the Wolverines played better than expectations most of the season, finishing third after it all was what I expected.
Nebraska, despite me being higher than almost anyone about what this team could do, did finish better than even I expected, going 22-7 and 11-7 in Big Ten play. This comes after a 13-13 year in 2020-21, showing how much Williams improved her roster and made it work with a handful of strong players, but no clear star.
If I went outside of Nebraska, I had Kevin McGuff in second, as Ohio State is the 1 seed, something I most certainly did not anticipate. The Buckeyes lost arguably their best player plus another key starter, then went and won the damn conference. KBA was my third pick and still a reasonable one, but I would have went elsewhere after the Wolverines missed on the regular season title.
All-Big Ten First Team
Coaches, Media and My picks:
Grace Berger, Indiana
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Monika Czinano, Iowa
Angel Reese, Maryland
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Nia Clouden, Michigan State
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Taylor Mikesell, Ohio State
Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
Makenna Marisa, Penn State
Apparently, the top 10 was clear cut, because everyone is in agreement here. Some names missed out on this list strictly due to injury (I will get to them soon), but each of these players led their teams all season, and any of them missing the list would have been a major snub.
Clark and Hillmon were unanimous with both coaches and media, while only the coaches were unanimous about Burton, Clouden and Sheldon. That begs the question: what in the hell was the media watching? That is even more so evident with Burton, who was the second-best player in the conference all year.
I was glad to see Makenna Marisa make the list despite Penn State’s struggles, because she is a special talent who could average 30 a game next year if she doesn’t get more help.
All-Big Ten Second Team
Coaches, Media and My picks:
Aleksa Gulbe, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Leigha Brown, Michigan
Sara Scalia, Minnesota
Alexis Markowski, Nebraska
Jaz Shelley, Nebraska
Different selections:
Nicole Cardano-Hillary, Indiana (Coaches)
McKenna Warnock, Iowa (Media)
Katie Benzan, Maryland (Media, Me)
Chloe Bibby, Maryland (Coaches, Media)
Diamond Miller, Maryland (Coaches, Media)
Ashley Owusu, Maryland (Coaches, Media)
Maddie Nolan, Michigan (Me)
Emily Kiser, Michigan (Me)
Sam Haiby, Nebraska (Me)
I found these second-team discrepancies quite interesting, but the six in common certainly add up. Mackenzie Holmes and Leigha Brown were destined for the first-team before injuries, and there were simply too many good players to have them in their with how much time was missed. Aleksa Gulbe stepped up in a big way during Holmes’ absence, while Sara Scalia became a professional bucket-getter on Minnesota.
Markowski I have already talked about, but Jaz Shelley was the best player on Nebraska, even if she didn’t put up gaudy numbers. Her win shares are sixth in the conference thanks to her exceptional defense, while she filled up box scores with more than just her scoring (6.8 RPG, 5.0 APG). Shelley had a case for the first-team, but she more than deserved her place here.
Now, the differences. Apparently, the coaches and media love Maryland, as they wanted pretty much the rest of the starting five included here. I agree with Katie Benzan, a sharpshooter who brings much more than that to the table, and I was very close to having Chloe Bibby, who was so solid all season.
The other Terps, I’m not sure about. Listen, Ashley Owusu and Diamond Miller are absolutely top 20 talents in this conference, but they battled injuries and we did not see either of them at 100 percent for much of the season. Owusu and Miller ranked 33rd and 54th in the Big Ten in win shares, and both hovered around 40 percent shooting all year. This feels like picks that were made before any games were played, All-American Shaun Wade type beat (though neither of these players were as horrible as Wade was on the outside, good lord he stunk).
I can respect the shouts for Nicole Cardano-Hillary and McKenna Warnock, two key pieces to great teams in the conference, I simply didn’t find room for them.
Who I did include were Emily Kiser and Maddie Nolan, two severely underrated pieces to Michigan’s success this year. Nolan ranks 12th in win shares in the Big Ten, and Kiser ranks 22nd. Each are two of the best defensive players in the conference at their respective positions, and both were very efficient offensively. Naz Hillmon gets all the credit for Michigan’s success when Brown is out, and I get why, but Nolan and Kiser were huge in keeping the Wolverines as a top 10 team nationally this year.
I also added Sam Haiby into my second-team because of everything she brings to her all-around game for the Cornhuskers. 10.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.4 SPG doesn’t fly off the page, but she is another great defender and lands at No. 20 in conference win shares when it all adds up. She also is specifically good in crunch time, something that is hard to gauge, but is obvious when you watch how she plays.
See you back on Monday with, you guessed it, even more Big Ten women’s basketball content. It is March, after all.
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