Big Ten Men's Basketball Coaches Discuss Dominant Post Players Across the Conference
MINNEAPOLIS — The Big Ten conference has no shortage of talented post players. As dreams of positionless basketball continue to flood the sport at all levels of play, size and physicality remain a staple across the league.
"I think college basketball was always built around having someone, a big, a low-post presence," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "When you go around the college game, not just in the Big Ten, there are a lot of nice, dominant players that play in the low post. We happen to have one."
The Hoosiers return senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was named the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. He was a second team All-Big Ten selection and named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team after leading Indiana with 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Jackson-Davis is among several big men that will clash in Big Ten play during the 2022-23 college basketball season. He was a unanimous selection to the Preaseson All-Big Ten Team alongside junior centers Zach Edey of Purdue and Hunter Dickinson of Michigan.
Rutgers junior center Clifford Amoruyi was the only other center named to the squad. They will look to continue a tradition of production in the post that has seemingly become commonplace in the conference, left behind by the likes of All-American Kofi Cockburn of Illinois and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year honoree Luka Garza from Iowa.
"I woke up every night last year knowing I had 20 and 10," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "That's a pretty good feeling. Obviously, Kofi is unique. I think there are a lot of ways to win. I think there are things that caused us problems playing Kofi. I think you got to play against it."
Cockburn, before setting his sights on professional play, spent three years at Illinois. In his final college season, averaged 20.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game before declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft and forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.
For the Boilermakers, Edey and fellow big man Trevion Williams combined to be one of the most potent frontcourt tandems in the conference. Williams earned the league's Sixth Man of the Year Award coming off the bench as a senior. He was also a third team All-Big Ten selection after averaging 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game during the 2021-22 season.
We know, Zach Edey's height has been talked about for years now.
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Regardless, we enjoyed this moment between the @BoilerBall star, @BTNDaveRevsine & @CoachPainter.#B1GMediaDays pic.twitter.com/q17k8ORdwP
Edey returns for his third season with Purdue basketball and will be a driving force under the basket after the team lost five contributing players in the offseason. While splitting time with Williams and seeing less than 20 minutes on the floor per contest, the 7-foot-4 center still posted an average of 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks.
"At the end of the day, the ball needs to live in the paint no matter how you play," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "The ball has to get there. Whether you're driving it, posting it, getting it off the glass, or playing in transition off your defense, that is so important for it.
"But the thing about our bigs in our league, they're quality. A lot of times people say you can't place these two guys together. It just depends on their functionality. That's really what it gets down to."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.