Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball: Projecting individual awards and accolades for 2022-23 season

By Trevor Sinodhinos

Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
Ensworth’s Skyy Clark Bhs Ehs Bbb 111920 An 013
Ensworth’s Skyy Clark Bhs Ehs Bbb 111920 An 013 /

Big Ten All-Freshman

Skyy Clark – Guard – Illinois 

He has the ranking, he will have the opportunity but also has had the injury. No. 32 on the Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) played four games in 2021-22 after returning from ACL surgery and subsequently averaged fewer than nine points a game. In those games, he showed he has a quality jumper off the dribble and from beyond the arc going 4 for 9.

Clark is going to produce due to the sheer minutes he will get with the Fighting Illini and the long leash Head Coach Brad Underwood will afford him. He will turn the ball over more than desired against Big Ten competition, but after a season of Andre Curbelo at point guard, Clark will be a welcome addition to the rebuilding Fighting Illini.

Fletcher Loyer –  Guard – Purdue

He is going to start and he has 7’4 Zach Edey that can set ball screens and clear out the key for him, not to mention finish off a lot of passes. Another benefactor of opportunity, the 6’4 guard will have plenty of playing time to demonstrate why he averaged 27 points per game as a high school senior and how he won the National High School 3-point Championship contest during a season he capped off with being named  Indiana’s Gatorade Player of the Year.

Not only can Loyer connect from beyond the arc, but he is also very effective at rising up for a jumper off of the dribble. His ability to protect the basketball and distribute it to his teammates will be a great fit for Coach Painter’s offense.

Jett Howard – Forward – Michigan

The 6’7 forward is so much more than just the coach’s son. The No. 34 recruit on the RSCI made six of 10 shots to score thirteen points in the Jordan Classic. While playing for IMG Jett used his above-average ball-handling and his 6’7 frame to score a couple of ways. Whether it was by getting to the basket off the dribble, or by cutting to the open spot to hit a jumper, even if those jumpers are from beyond the arc.  Howard will add to the ball handling capabilities in the Wolverines’ backcourt alongside Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn and second-year guard Kobe Bufkin in the starting line-up.

Jalen Hood-Schifino – Guard – Indiana

If the Big-Ten can name four guards to their All-Freshman team in 2021-22, adding the 6’5 combo guard from Monteverde Academy to its 2022-23 will not be controversial, especially when the goal should be to have the best five freshmen honored. Hood-Schifino will begin the season coming off the bench behind Xavier Johnson and Tamar Bates, but he will average at least 20 minutes a game and those 20 minutes will be spectacular.

The upperclassman on the Hoosiers will love playing with this freshman as he plays like a true point guard using his court vision to look to pass first whether it is in the half court or on the fast break. When not facilitating scoring chances for Trayce Jackson-Davis and Miller Kopp look for him to use his ball handling to cross defenders and curl off screens for open jumpers.

Jaxon Kohler –  Center  – Michigan State

Head Coach Tom Izzo may not be known for giving heavy minutes to freshmen, but Max Christie made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season, so it is possible. The 6’10 Kohler  –  despite being ranked the No. 44 freshman – is not the talent Christie was, but he will have an opportunity to prove himself. That opportunity will also be greater than No. 26 ranked freshman Malik Reneau, who will be playing behind Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis in Indiana.

At 250 pounds the Southern California Academy graduate is extremely dangerous once he receives the ball in the painted area. Whether he is backing down his defender, spinning baseline, hitting a fade away, passing to a cutter, or using his footwork – that you will hear about every telecast – Kohler is going to put up stats whenever he is on the court.

Home/Big Ten