Indiana’s Jared Jeffries Named Big Ten Player Of The Year By Coaches And Media – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2002
%^$Park Ridge, IL – For the second straight year, a sophomore collected the Big%^$Ten’s highest honor as Indiana’s Jared Jeffries was chosen as the Conference%^$Player of the Year in voting by both the coaches and media. Illinois junior%^$Frank Williams was honored as the Player of the Year for 2001. Jeffries, the%^$League’s only unanimous All-Big Ten First Team pick this season and the 2001%^$Freshman of the Year, is the second Hoosier in the past three years to be%^$named Conference Player of the Year, as A.J. Guyton was honored in 2000.%^$Jeffries led Indiana to a share of its first Big Ten Championship since 1993%^$while topping the League with 2.13 blocked shots per game and ranking among%^$the top 10 in rebounding (2nd with 7.9 rpg), steals (6th with 1.50 spg) and%^$scoring (7th with 15.1 ppg). The IU sophomore led his team and was the only%^$Big Ten player to appear in the top 10 in each of those categories.%^$
%^$Other individual honors include Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan being named the Big Ten%^$Coach of the Year by the media, the first Badger head coach to earn that%^$distinction. Ryan led Wisconsin to a share of its first Big Ten Championship%^$in 55 years, as the last UW League title came in 1947.%^$
%^$A pair of Minnesota players earned individual honors, as Rick Rickert was%^$named the Conference Freshman of Year and Travarus Bennett shared Big Ten%^$Defensive Player of the Year accolades with Indiana’s Dane Fife. Rickert is%^$the first Gopher to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after leading all%^$Conference freshmen in scoring (14.1 ppg) and blocks (1.30) while rating%^$third in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Bennett and Fife are also the first players%^$from their respective schools to earn Conference Defensive Player of the%^$Year honors (selected by the coaches), as Bennett led the Big Ten in steals%^$with 2.31 per game and Fife rated seventh with 1.50 picks per contest in%^$League games only.%^$
%^$The 2002 All-Big Ten team featured youth, as eight members of the First- and%^$Second-Team have eligibility remaining, while each of the four Conference%^$co-champs were represented. Both the coaches’ and media First-Team All-Big%^$Ten squads featured these players: Jeffries, Illinois’ Frank Williams,%^$Michigan State’s Marcus Taylor, Ohio State’s Brian Brown and Wisconsin’s%^$Kirk Penney. Jeffries was the only unanimous selection while Williams was%^$the only player to earn First-Team honors for the second straight season.%^$
%^$2001-02 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team%^$
%^$As selected by Big Ten coaches%^$
%^$FIRST TEAM
%^$Brian Brown, Ohio State
%^$Jared Jeffries, Indiana*
%^$Kirk Penney, Wisconsin
%^$Marcus Taylor, Michigan State
%^$Frank Williams, Illinois
%^$
%^$SECOND TEAM
%^$Brian Cook, Illinois
%^$Tom Coverdale, Indiana
%^$Brent Darby, Ohio State
%^$Reggie Evans, Iowa
%^$Rick Rickert, Minnesota
%^$
%^$THIRD TEAM
%^$Robert Archibald, Illinois
%^$Willie Deane, Purdue
%^$Tavaras Hardy, Northwestern
%^$Luke Recker, Iowa
%^$Dusty Rychart, Minnesota
%^$
%^$HONORABLE MENTION
%^$Travarus Bennett, Minnesota
%^$Winston Blake, Northwestern
%^$Charlie Wills, Wisconsin
%^$
%^$PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
%^$JARED JEFFRIES, Indiana
%^$
%^$FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
%^$RICK RICKERT, Minnesota
%^$
%^$CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
%^$Dane Fife, Indiana, and Travarus Bennett, Minnesota
%^$
%^$* unanimous%^$
%^$Repeat Performers
%^$First Team: Williams, Second Team: Evans, Third Team: None.%^$Note: Jeffries was named to the coaches’ second-team in 2001, Cook was a%^$third-team pick, and Brown and Recker were honorable mention selections.%^$
%^$
%^$
%^$As selected by Big Ten media%^$
%^$FIRST TEAM
%^$Brian Brown, Ohio State
%^$Jared Jeffries, Indiana*
%^$Kirk Penney, Wisconsin
%^$Marcus Taylor, Michigan State
%^$Frank Williams, Illinois
%^$
%^$SECOND TEAM
%^$Brian Cook, Illinois
%^$Tom Coverdale, Indiana
%^$Willie Deane, Purdue
%^$Reggie Evans, Iowa
%^$Rick Rickert, Minnesota
%^$
%^$THIRD TEAM
%^$Adam Ballinger, Michigan State
%^$LaVell Blanchard, Michigan
%^$Brent Darby, Ohio State
%^$Luke Recker, Iowa
%^$Dusty Rychart, Minnesota
%^$
%^$HONORABLE MENTION
%^$Robert Archibald, Illinois
%^$Boban Savovic, Ohio State
%^$Sharif Chambliss, Penn State
%^$
%^$PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
%^$Jared Jeffries, Indiana
%^$
%^$FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
%^$RICK RICKERT, Minnesota
%^$
%^$COACH OF THE YEAR:
%^$Bo Ryan, Wisconsin
%^$
%^$* unanimous%^$
%^$Repeat Performers
%^$First Team: Williams, Second Team: Cook, Evans, Third Team: None.%^$Note: Blanchard was named to the media second-team in 2001, Brown and%^$Jeffries were third-team picks and Recker was an honorable mention%^$selection.%^$
