Busting Brackets
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Big Ten basketball: Top 15 players for the 2019-20 season

By Austin Walther

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with Cassius Winston #5 in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with Cassius Winston #5 in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 20: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini sets up to defend Nick Weiler-Babb #1 of the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of the game at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 20: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini sets up to defend Nick Weiler-Babb #1 of the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of the game at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

Big Ten Basketball lost a lot of star power from last season. There are a few household names returning, but many new names are rising through the ranks and are ready to become the top players in the Big Ten.

Big Ten Basketball is coming off one of its best seasons. There was a ton of star power. Three players were being considered for national awards. Carsen Edwards was a 24 points per game player who took Matt Painter to his first elite eight. He blew away the scoring leading and Cassius Winston did the same for assists. Ethan Happ was the only player in the Big Ten to average over 15 points, six boards and four assists.

At first glance, the Big Ten is losing a lot of scoring. Winston is the only player mentioned that is returning. Only three players averaging over 15 points per game are back in the Big Ten. One is Winston. The other two are Lamar Stevens and Anthony Cowan. It’s really quite simple to name a first-team all-Big Ten. Just six guys return from the top-20 in scoring last season. Let’s not overthink this. Kaleb Wesson, Ayo Dosunmu and Trent Frazier are the other three.

For the first time in a while, there are no five-star recruits joining the Big Ten. At one point, Trace Jackson-Davis was checking in at a five-star for Indiana. But he got pushed to 30 overall and is now a four-star. Rocket Watts for Michigan State and DJ Carton at Ohio State are the only other top-40 recruits. For me the cutoff for putting a freshman on a national preseason award list is top-10. For all-conference I would maybe consider top-25.

We are running into some issues with injuries and the season hasn’t even started yet. Joshua Langford and Jordan Bohannon are both top-10 players when healthy. There is absolutely no new news about Bohannon. But a decision has to be made soon if he wants to redshirt. And Langford is done until at least January as we learned when Tom Izzo got emotional.

There’s going to be a lot of new names jumping up the ranks. 14 of the best players from last season in the Big Ten are gone.  There are a couple household names, but a lot of these guys are receiving recognition for the first time. It’ll be fun to watch the Big Ten grow as the next batch of star players rise to the top.

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