G Boo Buie, Northwestern, 6-2, 180, Sr.: Has played 115 games and is coming off his best season with 17.3 ppg, 4.5 apg and 1.9-to-1 assist-turnover ratio. He was first Big Ten player since 1964 to lead conference in scoring (22.3 ppg), rebounding (12.9 rpg) and field-goal shooting (60.7%). I think that can be something that separates.”Ĭ Zach Edey, Purdue, 7-4, 300, Sr.: Big Ten preseason player of the year is the returning consensus national player of the year. We had one of those in our league, Penn State. “Last year I think it played out a little bit that we saw some very old teams be very successful. “We have maybe the biggest age discrepancy ever - 23-, 24-year-olds playing against 17-, 18-year-olds sometimes,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. The Boilermakers and Spartans have six players who are in their fourth or fifth seasons.
The Big Ten traditionally has older players, and that’s been accentuated because of the NCAA pandemic policy that allows athletes to have a sixth year of eligibility. “I think you’re going to find this league is so much better than what I’ve seen in preseason rankings,” Izzo said.
