The Wisconsin men's basketball team may have been fortunate enough to return all but one player from a year ago, but the rest of the Big Ten wasn't so lucky.
While the Badgers are just trying to find the most efficient way to divide up minutes among the deepest team they've had in years, some of the perennial Big Ten powers are still trying to figure out just who will be their go-to scorers. The end of the 2005-'06 season saw the departure of many of the biggest names in the conference, leaving several teams scrambling to fill the void.
Perhaps no team was hit harder than Michigan State. The Spartans lost center Paul Davis and guards Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager to the NBA, leaving the Spartans vulnerable for the first time in years. A quick glance at the Michigan State roster reveals few recognizable names. Junior point guard Drew Neitzel is the only returning starter from last season, and he will look to bring stability to a young and inexperienced Spartans squad.
The Spartans don't have any seniors on their roster, and other than Neitzel, no returning player averaged better than 18.7 minutes per game last season. In fact, excluding Neitzel, who started all 34 games, the entire bunch of returning players made just 24 starts between them last season.
In addition to Neitzel, the Spartans will rely heavily on freshman forward Raymar Morgan, the top-ranked high school player in Ohio last season, who has averaged 10 points through the Spartans' first three games. After contributing little last season, sophomore guard Maurice Joseph also has gotten off to a hot start, averaging 12.3 points. The Spartans also figure to rely heavily on junior Drew Naymick, sophomore Goran Sutton and sophomore Marquise Gray.
However, the Spartans were not the only team that lost big-name players. Illinois lost a second-team All-American in guard Dee Brown, as well as star forward James Augustine. But unlike the Spartans, the Illini return three starters from last season. The three served mainly as role players last year, however, so they will have to step up and become even bigger contributors this season.
Senior guard Rich McBride is the Illini's leading returning scorer-—he averaged 10 points per game last season. In addition, junior forwards Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle will have to step up their game. But perhaps the biggest question for the Illini is whether sophomore guard Jamar Smith, who scored eight points per game and led the league in 3-point field goal percentage as a freshman, can become one of the conference's elite scorers.
Iowa also lost some big names when the seemingly endless careers of guard Jeff Horner, forward Greg Brunner and center Erek Hansen finally came to an end after the Hawkeye's surprisingly early exit from the NCAA tournament. If the Hawkeye's hope to compete again this year, senior guard Adam Haluska will have to improve on his 13.9 points per game average.
Ohio State suffered the loss of its top big man, Big Ten Player of the Year Terrance Dials, but the addition of freshman phenom Greg Oden should ease the Buckeye's concerns in that regard. The Buckeyes also lost guard Je'Kel Foster, as well as fundamentally sound role players in J.J. Sullinger and Matt Slyvester.
However, the Buckeyes feature one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, so they will have to hope their young stars grow up quickly. In additon to Oden, a two-time high school Gatorade Player of the Year, the Buckeyes' strong fresman class also features two additional McDonald's All-Americans in guards Mike Conley, Jr. and Daeqaun Cook.
Finally, Indiana was hit as hard as anybody by graduation and early departures, but the return of star forward D.J. White from injury should allow the Hoosiers to finish near the top of the conference. Still, the Hoosiers will have to make up for the loss of leading scorer and rebounder Marco Killingsworth, as well as second-leading scorer Robert Vaden, who followed formerr Indiana head coach Mike Davis to the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
