Penn State guard Ace Baldwin earns All-Big Ten honors
Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades understood where point guard Ace Baldwin would appear to casual observers of the Big Ten this season. Among the league’s top scorers, assist leaders, steals, and minutes, the star Nittany Lion might not immediately garner recognition for his efforts.
In the breadth and nuance of Baldwin’s game, however, Rhoades was counting on a keen eye among the conference’s voters for All-Big Ten honors.
“There are people that just look at the stat sheet and the conference stat leaders and vote that way because they don’t know the game. And there are people that watch the game and know. And I hope there’s a lot more of them in this league than maybe some other leagues,” said Rhoades. “I guess I’ll learn this first year if people are watching the game and know basketball.”
Tuesday afternoon, Rhoades got his answer. Announced on the BTN on its live midday show, Baldwin was selected to the All-Big Ten third-team and the All-Defensive team. He was also tabbed as the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to Baldwin’s Defensive Player of the Year award, Penn State also landed center Qudus Wahab, forward Zach Hicks, and wing Nick Kern as All-Big Ten honorable mention selections. Puff Johnson, meanwhile, was named the Sportsmanship winner for Penn State.
Ace Baldwin earns top defensive honors
The recognitions for Baldwin come on the heels of Baldwin’s transition from VCU to the Big Ten this season. In his fourth year of college basketball, Baldwin produced some of the best numbers of his career to help propel Penn State to a 15-16 regular season record with a 9-11 mark in conference play.
His 14.3 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.7 steals per game were all career bests, as were his 35.6 minutes per game. Appearing in all 31 regular season contests for the Nittany Lions, he also hit a career-best 83.2 percent of his free throws while knocking down 39.7 percent of his shots and 34.8 percent of his 3-point attempts on the season.
More important than those numbers, though, Rhoades pointed to Baldwin’s impact on the team.
“The dude’s a winner. He’s been a winner everywhere he’s at. He impacts the game in so many different ways, and I think that should reward him,” said Rhoades. “He wants to win.”
Next steps for Penn State, Baldwin
The question for Baldwin is whether he wants to continue those efforts for Penn State next season. Recognized on Sunday night in the Nittany Lions’ senior day ceremonies, he could pursue either a professional career or another transfer after the program wraps its postseason play.
In agreement that “conversations” have taken place between Rhoades and Baldwin about his future, the pair settled publicly on leaving those decisions to be determined until play has been completed.
“We’ve had conversations throughout the year about a lot of stuff with all the players and that’s what you do. But, the task at hand, let’s be present and what we can control right now. The most important thing of all of this in the landscape of college athletics, is I’m not going to change, it’s all about the kids and they got to do what’s best for them. And I think that’s important,” said Rhoades. “But I’m also part of running a college program. I’m running a team. And we have to make sure we’re doing our best to build the team in the right way.
“I’m always going to work with our guys to do what’s best for them. That’s just me. Maybe other people have a different approach to it. And you got to have real conversations with guys when the time is there. So, we’ll get into that I. I hope it’s not for a while because we’re having a fun week in Minnesota.”
Penn State opens play as the No. 11-seed in the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night (9 p.m., Peacock). The Nittany Lions will face No. 14-seed Michigan.
