Purdue‘s Braden Smith was named the Big Ten player of the year and Michigan State‘s Tom Izzo coach of the year by coaches and the media in voting coordinated by the conference. Smith and Izzo won the same honors from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
For Izzo, who became first among Big Ten head coaches in all-time wins earlier this year, it’s his fourth time claiming the award.
Smith’s honor marks the third straight year that a Purdue player has won the award.
The coaches voted Penn State‘s Ace Baldwin Jr. the defensive player of the year, Maryland‘s Derik Queen the freshman of the year and Illinois‘ Will Riley the sixth man of the year.
The coaches’ All-Big Ten first team was made up of Smith, Queen, Nebraska‘s Brice Williams, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Wisconsin‘s John Tonje. The coaches’ second team included Michigan‘s Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf, Minnesota‘s Dawson…
