Busting Brackets
Fansided

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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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Nojel Eastern #20 of the Purdue Boilermakers shoots over Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Nojel Eastern #20 of the Purdue Boilermakers shoots over Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mention Part 2

Nojel Eastern, Guard, Junior, Purdue

I know a lot of people are going to get upset because Nojel Eastern is on this slide and doesn’t have one to himself. That’s fine. I simply don’t see how a guy that can’t shoot and isn’t a monster in the paint can be in the top-15. He was lost during his freshman year. Purdue was stacked with a ton of upperclassmen, but the 67th ranked recruit only saw 12 minutes per game. Last season he started 35 out of 36 games. All of his numbers skyrocketed. Which was expected. Eastern did show signs of why Boilermaker fans are excited for him. Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline contributed for almost half of their points. I have no doubt Eastern’s numbers will improve, but he isn’t your typical corner-pocket wing man and is he going to be able to run the point?

Matt Haarms, Center, Junior, Purdue

It’s actually the all Wisconsin and Purdue section. I was a big fan of Matt Haarms going into last season. His scoring wasn’t all there during his freshman season, but as I mentioned for the guy above, it was hard to increase your scoring behind a stacked lineup. Haarms’ 79 blocks playing behind Isaac Haas is what impressed me the most. But it took a while for Haarms to get going last season. Even much so he didn’t start in 13 games last year. As hard as it was for scoring to be made two seasons ago, it might’ve been even more difficult last year when it ran through Edwards and Cline. His rebounding went up which is nice to see, but his block shots dipped by five. Whatever the case may be, Haarms is still a presence down low for Purdue.

Eric Ayala, Sophomore, Guard, Aaron Wiggins, Sophomore, Guard, Maryland

These two are one in the same for me. Both guys were top-100 recruits for Maryland last season, but were played behind five-star Jalen Smith. Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins are your typical wing players. Ayala got the nod last season, appearing in the starting lineup 33 out of 34 games. Wiggins was limited to just four starts despite being ranked over 40 spots higher than Ayala in recruiting. Both guys averaged just over eight points per game. Wiggins is the better rebounder, but Ayala is the better passer. Wiggins made 62 three-pointers to Ayala’s 52. They both shot over 40 percent from behind-the-arc and neither one’s steals or blocks are overly impressive. Ayala and Wiggins are very interchangeable.

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