2015-16 SBNation all-Big Ten Basketball Teams

As a site manager at SB Nation I am incredibly blessed. I have always compared it to being a fan given an incredible platform and access to write from that perspective. That is why I enjoy this week of the year so much. First, my reward for a year's worth of blogging comes in the form of my Big Ten Tournament credential that I am picking up later today. Second, I get to compile the SB Nation all-Tournament team

First, let's meet this year's voters:

Hammer & Rails

T-Mill, Casey Bartley

The Champaign Room

Jim Vainisi

Bucky's 5^th Quarter

Curt Hogg, Phil Mitten

The Daily Gopher

Steve Bailey

Inside NU

Henry Bushnell

BTPowerhouse

Thomas Beindit, Andrew Holmes

Crimson Quarry

Ben Raphel

Maize N' Brew

Drew Hallett

On the Banks

Aaron Breitman

Land-Grant Holyland

Grant Freking

Black Heart Gold Pants

Ross Binder

Black Shoe Diaries

Chad Markulics

The formula here is simple: I asked for a First Team, Second Team, and Third Team from each voter. If a player gets a First team vote it is worth three points, A Second Team vote is worth two points, and a Third Team vote is worth a single point. The top five vote-getters get named on the First Team and so on.

So, let's get to it: Here is your SB Nation all-Big Ten First Team:

Denzell Valentine - Michigan State - 45 points

A.J. Hammons - Purdue - 45 points

Yogi Ferrell - Indiana - 45 points

Jarrod Uthoff - Iowa - 45 points

Nigel Hayes - Wisconsin - 40 points

This was as expected. Hammons, Valentine, Ferrell, and Uthoff are unanimous First Team selections across all 15 ballots. Hayes was a First Team selection on 10 of 15 ballots and a Second Team on the other five. I don't think anyone can argue with this.

Here is the SB Nation all-Big Ten Second Team:

Malcolm Hill - Illinois - 29 points

Peter Jok - Iowa - 27 points

Matt Costello - Michigan State - 26 points

Melo Trimble - Maryland - 25 points

Bryn Forbes - Michigan State - 20 points

Hill received three of the five First Team votes that Hayes did not receive. Forbes got the fourth of the five. With Forbes and Costello here Michigan State has three of the top 10 players in the league.

Here is the Third Team:

Diamond Stone - Maryland - 14 points

Andrew White III - Nebraska - 11 points

Brandon Taylor - Penn State - 11 points

Shavon Shields - Nebraska - 10 points

Troy Williams - Indiana - 8 points

Ethan Happ - Wisconsin - 8 points

There are six players on the Third Team because Williams and Happ tied for the final spot. White got a major boost by receiving a First Team vote.

Honorable Mention Selections:

The following players were named on at least one ballot as a Second or Third Team selection:

Bryant McIntosh - Northwestern

Thomas Bryant - Indiana

Derrick Walton - Michigan

Bronson Koenig - Wisconsin

Robert Carter - Maryland

Kendrick Nunn - Illinois

Rasheed Sulaimon - Maryland

Vince Edwards - Purdue

Caleb Swanigan - Purdue

Jordan Murphy - Minnesota

Mike Gesell - Iowa

Zak Irvin - Michigan

Marc Loving - Ohio State

Tre Demps - Northwestern

P.J. Thompson - Purdue

Corey Sanders - Rutgers

Adam Woodbury - Iowa

Now, onto the individual awards:

Big Ten Player of the Year

Denzel Valentine - Michigan State

Valentine not only was a unanimous First Team selection, he was named the unanimous player of the year by all 15 voters. When you lead the league in scoring, finish 7^th in rebounding, and are also 1^st in assists while being responsible for about 35 points a game either by scoring or by providing an assist it is a pretty open and shut case for Player of the Year.

Big Ten Coach of the Year

Greg Gard - Wisconsin

This was a much closer vote. Gard received eight votes out of 15, with Tom Crean getting five and Tom Izzo and Fran McCaffery each getting one. I respect what Crean did, but Indiana was expected to be good from the beginning of the season. Gard didn't even know he was going to be the head coach at the beginning of the year, was dumped into the position just before Big Ten play, and took a team from 9-9 and 1-4 to start league play to the NCAA Tournament and a top four finish. That's a helluva job.

Big Ten Freshman of the Year

Diamond Stone - Maryland

This was another close vote, but Stone gets the nod with seven votes out of 15. Ethan Happ gets 6 votes, while Thomas Bryant and Jordan Murphy end up swinging things with one vote each.

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year

A.J. Hammons - Purdue

Big A.J. gets to add another award to his postseason collection, and this is clearly his most prestigious. He was named Defensive Player of the Year on 13 of 15 ballots with Jarrod Uthoff and matt Costello getting a single vote each.

Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year

Max Bielfeldt - Indiana

The voting was all over the map here with one abstention, meaning there were only 14 votes to go around. Bielfeldt gets seven votes to win. His closest competitor was Isaac Haas with four votes, followed by Kam Williams, Dom Uhl, and Dakota Mathias each getting one vote.

So that's it! Thank you again to all 15 writers for submitting a ballot. We had 12 of the 14 teams represented by their respective sites, with only Testudo Times and Corn Nation not participating.