Big Ten announces preseason all-conference team, player of the year honor

The Big Ten has announced the preseason all-Big Ten basketball team and player of the year, as selected by a media panel, and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis has been named the preseason Big Ten player of the year. He is joined by 10 other players on the preseason all-conference team — an 11th player made the list due to a tie.

Jackson-Davis was an unanimous choice on the all-conference team along with two other big men: Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson and Purdue’s Zach Edey.

Dickinson and Jackson-Davis are the two highest returning scorers in the league and each led their team in scoring on a points-per-game basis a year ago, scoring 18.3 and 18.1, respectively. Both should serve as the respective clear top option for their teams this year — the same is the case for Edey, now likely to be the focal point for the Jaden Ivey-less Boilermakers.

Those three centers are solid defensive presences, too. Dickinson and Edey averaged more than a block per game in 2021-22 and Jackson-Davis averaged almost 2.5 blocks per game.

A number of players are reappearing on the list or moving up after being named an honorable mention a year ago.

All told, 10 of the 14 teams in the conference placed a player on the list, with Wisconsin the only program to have multiple. Missing the cut to feature a player on the preseason all-conference team were Ohio State, Maryland, Nebraska and Northwestern.

Big Ten basketball preseason all-conference team

(Names in all caps are unanimous selections.)

Terrence Shannon Jr., Sr., G, Illinois
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS, JR., F, INDIANA
Kris Murray, Jr., F, Iowa
HUNTER DICKINSON, JR., C, MICHIGAN
Malik Hall, Sr., F Michigan State
Jamison Battle, Jr., F, Minnesota
Jalen Pickett, Sr., G, Penn State
ZACH EDEY, JR., C, PURDUE
Clifford Omoruyi, Jr., C, Rutgers
Chucky Hepburn, So., G, Wisconsin
Tyler Wahl, Sr., F, Wisconsin