D’Angelo Russell Named First Team All-Big Ten, Freshman of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell has been named a 2015 First Team All-Big Ten and the league’s 2015 Freshman of the Year, the conference office announced Monday. Russell was joined on the Big Ten All-Freshman team by Jae’Sean Tate while Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson were named honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.
“I want to congratulate all our players for the work they put in to earn this recognition,” Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach, said. “Sam, Shannon, Jae’Sean and D’Angelo earned the awards but their teammates certainly helped with these achievements.”
Russell is the fourth league rookie of the year winner under Thad Matta in the last 11 years. Greg Oden (2007), William Buford (2009) and Jared Sullinger (2011) also claimed the honor. Matta has had 11 first team All-Big Ten honorees over the last 11 years. Russell is the fourth freshman to be so honored in the Matta era and is the 71st Buckeye all-time to earn all-league honors (24 forwards, 30 guards, 17 centers).
“D’Angelo is so multi-dimensional from scoring to passing to rebounding,” Matta added. “I’m infatuated with the kid and love what he brings to our team. He does so many things to make each individual on the court better. That ability ultimately makes our team better. From day one he has put in the work and has been a great teammate.”
Russell, the leading freshman scorer in the country and second-leading scorer in the Big Ten at 19.2 points per game, also leads the Buckeyes with 5.6 rebounds per game and sits second on the team with 5.2 assists per contest. The Louisville, Ky., native has scored in double figures in 30 of 31 games, including the last 29. Russell has been named Big Ten Player of the Week twice and conference Freshman of the Week seven times. His current points+assists+rebounds (PAR) of 30.0 is the fourth-best of any Big Ten player in the last 10 seasons.
“It’s an honor and it’s great to be among a list of talented players who have earned these awards in the past,” Russell said. “These are individual awards but I just want to help our team get wins. I give a lot of credit to the coaches who put me in a position to be the best I can be. Coach Matta does a great job of recruiting and looking ahead to see these things happen before players even get here. I give a lot of credit to him and I thank him for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this team.”
Tate has averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in 31 contests as a freshman. The Pickerington, Ohio, native has excelled since entering the starting lineup 12 games ago at Northwestern, tallying 12.1 points and 5.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game. Tate currently holds the No. 4 spot among freshmen in Ohio State history in season field goal percentage at 59.8 percent.
Scott, from Alpharetta, Ga., is averaging 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds to go along with a team-high 5.8 assists per contests in his senior season. The point guard, who also has a team-high 55 steals, was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Nov. 24 after tallying 11 points and an Ohio State single-game record 16 assists against Sacred Heart. Scott’s 207 career steals are good for the No. 2 spot in program history and his 139 career games played total is tied for sixth all-time at Ohio State.
Thompson is the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer at 10.2 points per game to go along with 3.8 rebounds per contest. His 29 blocks and 43 steals are figures that rank second and third on the team, respectively. The Chicago native has scored 959 career points and played in 142 career games, a total that ranks fifth in Ohio State history.
The No. 6-seed Buckeyes open Big Ten tournament play at approximately 9 p.m. ET Thursday (ESPN2) against the opening-round matchup between No. 11 seed Minnesota and No. 14 seed Rutgers.
Matta’s First Team All-Big Ten Selections
2006 Terence Dials
2007 Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Jr.
2008 Jamar Butler
2009, 2010 Evan Turner
2011, 2012 Jared Sullinger
2013 Deshaun Thomas, Aaron Craft
2015 D’Angelo Russell
Matta’s Big Ten Freshmen of the Year
2007 Greg Oden
2009 William Buford
2011 Jared Sullinger
2015 D’Angelo Russell
