Men’s Basketball – Big Ten Preview – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/8/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 1999
Michigan State, which won back-to-back Big Ten Conference titles in 1998 %^$and 1999, has been chosen the preseason Conference favorite for the %^$1999-2000 men’s basketball season as voted upon by both the Conference %^$coaches and the media attending the 1999 media day. The Spartans received %^$seven of 11 first-place votes from the coaches and 79 of 93 from the media. %^$Ohio State, which accompanied MSU to the NCAA Final Four last season, was %^$picked to finish second in the League. Illinois finished third in the %^$preseason poll after a surprising run in the 1999 Big Ten Tournament in %^$which the team fell to Michigan State, 67-50, in the championship game.%^$
%^$The coaches named Ohio State senior guard Scoonie Penn the Big Ten %^$Preseason Player of the Year, while Michigan State senior guard Mateen %^$Cleaves was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the media. %^$Ironically, Penn earned Conference Player of the Year honors by the media %^$last year, while Cleaves was given that same honor by the coaches.%^$
%^$An AP Third-Team All-American in 1999, Penn averaged 16.9 ppg and 4.28 apg %^$and led the Buckeyes to the NCAA Final Four, their first trip since 1968. %^$Cleaves was a consensus All-American in 1999 and averaged 11.7 points and a %^$Conference-leading 7.2 assists per game. Cleaves has directed MSU to %^$back-to-back Big Ten Championships, the 1999 Conference Tournament crown %^$and a NCAA Final Four appearance in 1999. Both Penn and Cleaves have been %^$selected to the Preseason All-America Team for the 2000 John Wooden Award.%^$
%^$Penn and teammate Michael Redd were unanimous selections for the coaches’ %^$preseason All-Conference team. Also joining the duo on the coaches team are %^$Cleaves, Morris Peterson from Michigan State and Indiana’s A.J. Guyton. On %^$the media’s Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team, Cleaves was the only %^$unanimous selection. In addition to Cleaves, Peterson, Penn, Redd and %^$Illinois’ Cory Bradford were selected to the media’s preseason team.%^$
%^$Cleaves, Penn and Peterson all earned First-Team All-Conference honors in %^$1999, while Guyton and Redd were Second-Team selections. Bradford was the %^$1999 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.%^$
%^$The 1999-00 Schedule:
%^$Big Ten men’s basketball teams will again dominate %^$the airwaves as Conference fans will have the opportunity to see more than %^$96 Big Ten appearances nationally on CBS Sports, ESPN and espn2. Over 200 %^$Big Ten men’s basketball games will be televised, including all 88 %^$intraconference games. It is the seventh straight season that all of the %^$League’s intraconference games will be televised.%^$
%^$Iowa kicks off the 1999-00 season in the IKON Coaches vs. Cancer Classic %^$on Thursday, November 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Hawkeyes %^$will take on national champion Connecticut in first-round action.%^$
%^$The Big Ten season tips off on Wednesday, January 5 with Northwestern at %^$Iowa, Michigan at Minnesota, Wisconsin at Indiana, and Penn State at %^$Michigan State. The Spartans, who return three of their five starters, %^$including Conference Player of the Year Mateen Cleaves, will try to defend %^$their 1998-99 crown.%^$
%^$Among the Nations’ Best:
%^$The Big Ten boasts three of the top 10 backcourts %^$in the country according to both Athlon Sports Magazine and Lindy’s. The %^$Ohio State duo of Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd and the Spartan’s 1-2 punch %^$of Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell ranked one and two respectively. %^$Indiana’s Michael Lewis and A.J. Guyton wrapped up the top 10.%^$
%^$Cleaves Looking to Pass A Record
%^$Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves is closing in on the Big Ten’s %^$all-time assist record. Cleaves needs to dish out just 132 assists to break %^$the mark of 765 set by Illinois’ Bruce Douglas from 1982-86. Cleaves enters %^$the 1999-00 season with 634 assists. He tallied 146 assists in 1997, 217 in %^$1998 and 271 in 1999. His total of 271 last season set a record for most %^$assists in a single season.%^$
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