The envelopes please (awards from yours truly) . . .

Player-of-the-Year -- Where do you start when talking about Purdue superstar Glenn Robinson, who led the country in scoring with a whopping 30.5 point per game average? Down the stretch, Robinson elevated his already-unstoppable game to another level. The "Big Dog" scored 37 points in a crucial win at Michigan and then put an exclamation point on his scintillating season Sunday with a career-high 49 points in Purdue's title-clinching win over Illinois.

After carrying Purdue to the Big Ten title, Robinson sets his sights on the final frontier: a national championship.

"In my opinion, he's the best player in the country," Penn State Coach Bruce Parkhill said.

No argument here.

All-Big Ten team -- Robinson, Michigan State's Shawn Respert, Michigan's Jalen Rose, Wisconsin's Michael Finley and Indiana's Alan Henderson.

In any other year Respert gets serious consideration for player-of-the-year honors. The deadly outside shooter averaged 31 points a game during a late-season five-game winning streak that propelled the overachieving Spartans into the NCAA Tournament.

The maturation of Rose was a big reason why Michigan contended for the Big Ten title, despite the loss of Chris Webber and four key reserves from its last two Final Four teams. Freed from point guard duties by the emergence of Dugan Fife, Rose averaged 20.3 ppg (third in the conference), while improving his shooting percentage and assists-to-turnover ratio.

Finley (19.8 ppg) is one of the most explosive players in the conference, who can take the ball to the bucket, as well as light it up from the outside (he had 57 three-pointers).

With apologies to Illinois' Deon Thomas and Michigan's Juwan Howard, I picked Henderson because he meant more to his team. Henderson was the heart-and-soul of the Hoosiers, averaging 17.6 ppg and a league-leading 10.3 rebounds per game. Where would Indiana have been without Henderson, who was a rock inside? Certainly not in third-place in the conference, and maybe not in the NCAA Tournament.

Freshman-of-the-Year -- Wisconsin's Rashard Griffith.

While Illinois point guard Kiwane Garris (15.9 ppg) merits consideration, the ballyhooed Griffith is a major reason why the Badgers are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1947. The 7-foot center lived up to his enormous billing, leading the Big Ten in blocked shots (2.8 per game), while averaging 13.9 ppg and 8.3 rpg.

Coach-of-the-Year -- Michigan State's Jud Heathcote.

Heathcote turned in one of the finest coaching gems of his 23-year career, coaxing 19 wins out a team that was picked to finish near the bottom of the conference.

Biggest Disappointment -- Ohio State.

The talented Buckeyes appeared to have the right mix of youth and experience to make some noise in the conference this season. Veterans Jamie Skelton and Lawrence Funderburke played well enough, but last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, Greg Simpson, was a disappointment and post-players Rickey Dudley, Charles Macon and Gerald Eaker were inconsistent.

Ohio State's fate was sealed when leading scorer Derek Anderson went down with a season-ending knee injury in early February. The Buckeyes finished in a disappointing eighth-place tie with Penn State --a far cry from two years ago when they ran away with the Big Ten title.