Illinois second in preseason Big Ten basketball poll | Sports
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois will enter the 2022-23 college basketball season among the top Big Ten title contenders. The Illini received six first place votes and finished second overall in the only preseason poll conducted by members of the league media.
Illinois shared last year’s Big Ten title with Wisconsin after a wild final day of the 2021-22 regular season. Based on the preseason poll released Monday morning, only Indiana might stand in the Illini’s way. The Hoosiers bring back the most similar roster from a year ago and earned 19 of the 28 first place votes. Michigan State, Purdue and Iowa all received a single first place vote.
Terrence Shannon Jr. earned a new preseason honor this season as Transfer of the Year. The new Illinois guard played three seasons at Texas Tech and averaged 11 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his time with the Red Raiders before joining the Illini this summer. Shannon was also a preseason Second Team All-Big Ten selection.
Shannon received 16 of the 28 votes for transfer of the year. Illinois was the only team with two players in consideration. Baylor transfer Matthew Mayer had the second-most votes with four.
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson just edged Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis as preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. Dickinson got 14 votes, Jackson-Davis had 13 and Iowa’s Kris Murray picked up one.
Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was named preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Again, Illinois was the only team with two freshmen in contention. Skyy Clark was the runner-up with seven votes, and Ty Rodgers earned one vote.
Big Ten preseason media poll
Team Points
1. Indiana (19) 377
2. Illinois (6) 339
3. Michigan (1) 328
4. Michigan State 281
5. Purdue (1) 279
6. Ohio State 253
7. Iowa (1) 235
8. Rutgers 202
9. Wisconsin 191
10. Maryland 153
11. Penn State 118
12. Minnesota 86
13. Northwestern 56
14. Nebraska 42
Big Ten preseason Player of the Year
1. Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (14)
2. Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (13)
3. Kris Murray, Iowa (1)
Big Ten preseason Freshman of the Year
1. Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana (16)
2. Skyy Clark, Illinois (7)
3. Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State (2)
T4. Ty Rodgers, Illinois (1)
T4. Jett Howard, Michigan (1)
T4. Tre Holloman, Michigan State (1)
Big Ten preseason Transfer of the Year
1. Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois (16)
2. Matthew Mayer, Illinois (4)
T3. Jaelin Llewellyn, Michigan (3)
T3. Jahmir Young, Maryland (3)
5. Dawson Garcia, Minnesota (2)
Preseason All-Big Ten
First Team
*Hunter Dickinson, Michigan 56
*Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana 56
Zach Edey, Purdue 52
Kris Murray, Iowa 49
Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers 30
* – unanimous selection
Second Team
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois 29
Jamison Battle, Minnesota 24
Xavier Johnson, Indiana 20
Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin 15
Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin 14
Also receiving votes: Malik Hall, Michigan State 13; Jalen Pickett, Penn State 11; Matthew Mayer, Illinois 9; Justice Sueing, Ohio State 9; Donta Scott, Maryland 8; Caleb McConnel, Rutgers 5; Patrick McCaffery, Iowa 3; AJ Hoggard, Michigan State 2; Zed Key, Ohio State 2; Jaelin Llewellyn, Michigan 2; Paul Mulcahy, Rutgers 2; Race Thompson, Indiana 2; Jahmir Young, Maryland 2; Boo Buie, Northwestern 1; Dawson Garcia, Minnesota 1; Coleman Hawkins, Illinois 1; RJ Melendez, Illinois 1; Tyson Walker, Michigan State 1.
Note: Players received two points for a first team vote and one point for a second team vote.
Media panel: Ryan McFadden, Baltimore Sun; Emily Giambalvo, Washington Post; Alex Bozich, Inside the Hall; Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star; Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press; Brian Fonseca, NJ.com; David Jones, The Harrisburg Patriot-News; Ben Jones, StateCollege.com; Brendan Quinn, The Athletic; Dylan Burkhardt, UMHoops.com; Bill Landis, Rivals; Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch; Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal; Matt Charboneau, Detroit News; Jeremy Werner, 247Sports; Scott Richey, Champaign News-Gazette; Kennington Smith, Des Moines Register; Chad Leistikow, Des Moines Register; Brian Neubert, Rivals; Mike Carmin, Lafayette Journal & Courier; Steve Greenberg, Chicago Sun-Times; Alex Cervantes, Daily Northwestern; Robin Washut, On3; Jimmy Watkins, Omaha World-Herald; Ryan James, 247Sports; Marcus Fuller, Minneapolis Star; Abby Schnable, Wisconsin State Journal; Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.