Commissioner Kevin Warren kicks off this week’s Big Ten Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Media Days by stepping onto the podium at 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Target Center.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, much of it will be on the Big Ten Network, where all 28 coaches will hold press conferences and select members of all teams will meet with the media.
BTN coverage is from 8am to 3pm on both days. Gophers men’s coach Ben Johnson and women’s coach Lindsey Warren will meet with the media at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
This event will take place at the Target Center. This is because it will be the venue for the Women’s Tournament of this Spring Conference, as well as the 2024 Men’s and Women’s Conference tournaments.
3 women’s stories
Familiar Part 1
Six Big Ten teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year. Co-champions Iowa and Ohio, plus Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana. Now imagine what the preseason coaches picked for the conference: Iowa, Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan were the top five. That means it’s hard to get another team into the mix. especially….
familiar face
Six of the 10 players named to the All-Conference First Team by coaches last year have returned, as have six of the 10 second-team players. Leading the way is Iowa guard Caitlin Clarke, the current Conference Player of the Year and a finalist for last season’s Naismith Player of the Year Award. Includes Iowa’s Clark (1st) and Monica Chinano (3rd), Penn State University’s Marisa McKenna (2nd), and Ohio State University’s Jaycee Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell (6th and 7th respectively). , 6 of the top 8 scorers are back. Sara Scalia, who scored eight points with the Gophers last year, has moved to Indiana.
legend retires
For the first time since 1995, C. Vivian Stringer will not coach at Rutgers. After his illustrious career, which began in 1971 and ended with 1,055 career wins, Stringer retired and was replaced by Coquis his Washington. It’s one of his only two coaching changes in the conference this season. Another one of his took place in Illinois, with Shauna Grant replacing the retired Nancy Fahey. Shauna Grant coached Dayton in her six seasons before joining the Illini where she appeared in four of her NCAA Tournaments.
3 men storyline
Hoosier Favorites
Indiana is expected to be a preseason pick to clinch the Big Ten. But All-American Trace Jackson-Davis and Minnesota native Race Thompson are returning to the frontcourt. Jackson-Davis was officially named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year last week in the conference. The Gophers were voted 12th in an unofficial men’s big template preseason poll.
lack of star power
In an unprecedented season for the Big Ten star power in 2021-22, the league has selected three AP All-America First Team selections: Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, Iowa’s Keegan Murray and Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn. produced. Jaden Ivey of Purdue and his EJ Liddell of Ohio State were his second and third team picks respectively. However, of his 15 players on three All-Big 10 teams, only three of him have returned this season: Jackson Davis, Hunter Dickinson, and Zach Edie.
Low coaching turnover
Coaching changes in the Big Ten men’s hoops this offseason were far fewer than in previous years. , who have lost their jobs since 2020-21. They were replaced by Johnson, Mike Woodson, and Micah Shrewsbury, respectively. But following last season, only Marc Tajon of Maryland was given the boot, the Terrapins said in the past seven seasons, where he has appeared in five of his NCAA Tournaments, Kevin, Seton Hall’s longtime coach. Hired Willard.
