Cleaves, Penn named Players of the Year as Big Ten cagers honored

By MICHAEL LELLO
Collegian Staff Writer

This season, Big Ten men's basketball teams have turned in some of the most impressive campaigns in the nation, as six teams are currently ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press poll. Michigan State is the highest at No. 2. And with teams doing so well, naturally individual players have turned in successful regular seasons as well. Monday the Big Ten announced its individual award winners. Both the coaches and the media selected the same first teams and agreed on all of their selections besides Player of the Year.

Guards

Mateen Cleaves led the conference's top team, Michigan State, to a 26-4 (15-1 Big Ten) record and No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The point guard scored only 12 points per game, but his primary value was making the players around him better, leading the league with 6.9 assists per game.

James "Scoonie" Penn was the main force behind the surprise resurgence of Ohio State. The Boston College transfer scored 17.2 points per game, fifth in the league, while dishing off 4.1 assists per game.

Penn State's Dan Earl was named to the third team after the sixth-year point guard averaged 13.6 points and 4.1 assists per game, fifth in the conference.

Forwards

Quincy Lewis led Minnesota and the Big Ten in scoring with 24.4 points per game, and was second nationally only to Niagra's Alvin Young. The forward is a multi-faceted weapon for the Golden Gophers with the ability to both bang underneath and step outside and drain the 3-point shot.

Morris Peterson wasn't good enough to start for Michigan State, but he apparently is good enough to start for the All-Big Ten team. Despite coming off the bench, he led his team with 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Centers

Evan Eschmeyer helped Northwestern to a surprising 14-12 (6-10 Big Ten) regular-season record while staking his claim as the conference's premier big man as well as one of the league's top all-around performers. The sixth-year senior tossed in 19.6 points per game, third best in the Big Ten. He was also a force to be reckoned with under the glass, ripping down a league-leading 10.3 rebounds per game.

Calvin Booth of Penn State was named to the second team after finishing second to Eschmeyer in rebounds, with 8.6 per game. The fifth-year senior and four-year starter led the Nittany Lions with 15.7 points per game.

Player of the Year

With so many outstanding athletes, both the conference coaches and media were hard pressed to tab one player the best. Cleaves received the honor from the coaches while Penn got the nod from the media.

Other stars, however, such as Lewis and Eschmeyer, may have been equally deserving, especially if you ask Minnesota coach Clem Haskins.

"All the players are very deserving of the title," Haskins said. "But I'm talking about looking at numbers and here's a guy (Lewis) that has all the points. It ticks me off that he doesn't get it. I vote for the best player no matter what and Quincy Lewis was the best player this year."

Defensive Player of the Year

While prolific scorers get most of the headlines, the conference does reserve an award for the league's top defender. This year's recipient, Wisconsin guard Mike Kelley, made life miserable for opposing guards with his tenacious defense. He came of the bench to snare 2.1 steals per game, third best in the Big Ten.

Freshman of the Year

Illinois (11-17, 3-13 Big Ten) endured a miserable season but managed to have one bright spot: Cory Bradford.

The first-year guard led the Fighting Illini with 15 points per game and became the third-leading freshman scorer in school history. His 68 3-pointers are the most ever for an Illini freshman.

Coach of the Year

In only his second year with Ohio State, Jim O'Brien managed to turn the Buckeye program around. Last year they finished dead last in the Big Ten (8-22, 1-15) but with the help of fellow Boston College refugee Penn, O'Brien led the Buckeyes to a 22-7 (12-4 Big Ten) second-place record.