Minnesota Basketball: Jordan Murphy Named 2nd Team All-Big Ten by Media, 3rd Team by Coaches

The Big Ten announced their year end awards for men’s basketball on Monday. With the way Minnesota finished the season, its no surprise that not a ton of Gopher players were represented on the awards list. Junior forward Jordan Murphy was named to the 2nd Team All-Big Ten by the media, and to the third team All-Big Ten by the coaches. Nate Mason was named an honorable mention by both.

Murphy who finished the season averaging 17 points and 11.4 rebound per game was one of only three players in the nation to have those numbers.

Something tells me Marvin Bagley and Deandre Ayton won’t be on the third team in their respective conferences. But, because of the Gophers struggles that has absolutely zero to do with Murphy, he gets docked by both the coaches and the media.

More egregious may be the exclusion of Nate Mason from any of the three teams. While he was named an honorable mention this season, he averaged 18.6 points in Big Ten play—good enough for fourth in conference play (which technically the awards are supposed to be based on). Mason averaged nearly 1.5 points per game more this season than a year ago, and decreased his turnovers per game from 1.9 to 1.5. Yes his assists went down from 5 to 4.3 per game, but somehow that is enough to drop him from a First Team All-Big Ten slot a year ago to just an honorable mention this season.

Dupree McBrayer was named the Gophers recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.

The full list of award winners in below:

2017-18 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team

As selected by Big Ten coaches

FIRST TEAM

MILES BRIDGES, MICHIGAN STATE

James Palmer Jr., Nebraska

KEITA BATES-DIOP, OHIO STATE

Tony Carr, Penn State

Carsen Edwards, Purdue

SECOND TEAM

Juwan Morgan, Indiana

Moritz Wagner, Michigan

Jae’Sean Tate, Ohio State

Vincent Edwards, Purdue

Ethan Happ, Wisconsin

THIRD TEAM

Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland

Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State

Cassius Winston, Michigan State

Jordan Murphy, Minnesota

Isaac Haas, Purdue

HONORABLE MENTION

Leron Black, Illinois

Robert Johnson, Indiana

Tyler Cook, Iowa

Kevin Huerter, Maryland

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Michigan

Nick Ward, Michigan State

Nate Mason, Minnesota

Isaac Copeland Jr., Nebraska

Lamar Stevens, Penn State

Mike Watkins, Penn State

Dakota Mathias, Purdue

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Trent Frazier, Illinois

Bruno Fernando, Maryland

JAREN JACKSON JR., MICHIGAN STATE

Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State

Brad Davison, Wisconsin

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland

JAREN JACKSON JR., MICHIGAN STATE

Josh Reaves, Penn State

Mike Watkins, Penn State

Dakota Mathias, Purdue

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:

Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR:

Duncan Robinson, Michigan

COACH OF THE YEAR:

Chris Holtmann, Ohio State

2017-18 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team

As selected by Media Voting Panel

FIRST TEAM

MILES BRIDGES, MICHIGAN STATE

KEITA BATES-DIOP, OHIO STATE

Tony Carr, Penn State

Carsen Edwards, Purdue

Ethan Happ, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM

Juwan Morgan, Indiana

Moritz Wagner, Michigan

Jordan Murphy, Minnesota

James Palmer Jr., Nebraska

Vincent Edwards, Purdue

THIRD TEAM

Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland

Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State

Nick Ward, Michigan State

Cassius Winston, Michigan State

Isaac Haas, Purdue

HONORABLE MENTION

Leron Black, Illinois

Trent Frazier, Illinois

Jordan Bohannon, Iowa

Tyler Cook, Iowa

Kevin Huerter, Maryland

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Michigan

Nate Mason, Minnesota

Isaac Copeland Jr., Nebraska

Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern

Dererk Pardon, Northwestern

Jae’Sean Tate, Ohio State

Lamar Stevens, Penn State

Mike Watkins, Penn State

Dakota Mathias, Purdue

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:

Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State

COACH OF THE YEAR:

Chris Holtmann, Ohio State

Unanimous selections IN ALL CAPS

2017-18 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees

Aaron Jordan, Illinois; Collin Hartman, Indiana; Nicholas Baer, Iowa; Michal Cekovsky, Maryland; Duncan Robinson, Michigan; Tum Tum Nairn Jr., Michigan State; Dupree McBrayer, Minnesota; Evan Taylor, Nebraska; Gavin Skelly, Northwestern; Andrew Dakich, Ohio State; Julian Moore, Penn State; P.J. Thompson, Purdue; Mike Williams, Rutgers; Aaron Moesch, Wisconsin.