With the season creeping closer, the Big Ten’s preseason hierarchy has come into focus, and the top of the list is loaded with proven production, major roles and a few players who are poised to take another leap.
Jeremy Fears Jr. sits alone at No. 1 for Michigan State. The redshirt junior is the near-consensus preseason Big Ten player of the year after putting up 15.2 points, nine assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals last season.
He did draw criticism for some of his on-court behavior, but that faded as the year went on, and he stayed out of trouble in the postseason while Michigan State won 27 games and reached the Sweet Sixteen. What separates Fears is the way he dictates everything around him.
He can push the tempo or slow it down and run a half-court offense, and his 53.1 percent assist rate led the nation while lifting a roster that wasn’t especially loaded to a second-place finish in the league.
At No. 2 is Illinois forward David Mirkovic, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound sophomore who brings a rare blend of size and skill. He’s not a high-flyer, but he can handle the ball, create shots for himself and others, hit threes at a 37.5 percent clip and rebound.
His freshman season was already elite, and the expectation is that he’ll be even better as a sophomore. If anyone is going to push Fears for Big Ten player of the year, Mirkovic is the name to watch.
The one concern is health: he had surgery on his left foot in the offseason and is still working his way back in preseason, with Illinois taking its time.
Pryce Sandfort checks in at No. 3, and his fit at Nebraska looks tailor-made. After Fran McCaffery’s dismissal at Iowa, Sandfort landed with Fred Hoiberg and a Huskers offense built around spacing, movement and a heavy diet of 3-pointers.
That’s his kind of game. He has a quick release and one of the purest shots in the conference, and he backed it up with a breakout junior season that produced 18.1 points per game on 41.6 percent shooting.
That year earned him first-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and helped Nebraska post its best season ever, including the program’s first NCAA tournament win and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. He’s back in Lincoln as one of the league’s top returners and a strong candidate to repeat on the first team.
Michigan has two players near the top of the rankings, starting with Elliot Cadeau at No. 4.
Last season, he was one of the most debated transfers in the country, but Dusty May’s move paid off in a big way. Cadeau kept the offense humming, proved he could make 3s by hitting 65 of 173, and stood out as one of college basketball’s best passers.
He thrives in transition, and when LJ Cason tore his ACL in February, Cadeau took his game up another level and helped carry Michigan to the national title while earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four. This season, the challenge changes.
He won’t just be a distributor anymore; Michigan needs him to score more, and his 45 percent mark on 2-pointers last year is the clearest area he has to improve.
The Wolverines’ other headliner is Trey McKenney at No. 5, a 6-foot-4 sophomore who looks ready to go from impact reserve to featured scorer. He averaged 9.9 points in 22.1 minutes per game off the bench for the national champions last season, and the efficiency jumped off the page: 59 percent on 2s and 39 percent on 3s.
The bigger the stage got, the more Michigan leaned on him, and he even buried the dagger 3-pointer in the national championship game. Now he’s expected to move into a starting role and could become one of the conference’s best scorers.
He’s also a strong bet to lead Michigan in scoring, making him one of the most obvious sophomore breakout candidates in the country.
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