IU Coach Tom Crean is the 2016 Big Ten Coach of the Year, the conference announced Monday night during its end-of-season awards show on the Big Ten Network.
Crean led his team to a 25-6 (15-3) season and the Hoosiers’ second regular season Big Ten Championship in four years.
When he found out about the honor, Crean said he stayed quiet for 10 minutes before telling his wife. Crean was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the Associated Press earlier Monday.
“I was really flattered,” he said. “When you get the respect of your peers, and of the media that cover this league on a daily basis, it means a lot.”
IU senior guard Yogi Ferrell was one of three unanimous selections on the All-Big Ten First Team. Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine and Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff joined him, and Purdue’s A.J. Hammons and Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes rounded out the five-man team.
Ferrell was also named to the All-Big Ten Defensive Team and was selected for the Associated Press All-Big Ten team earlier in the day.
He finished the regular season averaging 17.1 points and 5.5 assists per game.
“He went from a confident individual to a confident leader,” Crean said of his point guard.
The Big Ten Player of the Year award, which some thought could go to Ferrell, was given to Valentine. The Spartan guard averaged 19.6 points and 7.5 rebounds in his senior season.
During his interview on the awards show, Valentine echoed something Ferrell has said throughout his senior season.
“I just want to be remembered as a winner,” Valentine said. “That’s what separates you at this school.”
The Spartans, who beat the Hoosiers 88-69 back on Feb. 14, are a likely final-four pick in the NCAA Tournament, beginning next week.
Although IU had one of the easier Big Ten schedules to begin the season, they showed they can beat some of the best teams in the country after wins against ranked teams Iowa twice, Purdue, and Maryland to close out the season.
IU had to overcome injuries to sophomore guards James Blackmon Jr. and Rob Johnson. For that, Crean gave credit to every player on his team – from freshmen OG Anunoby and Juwan Morgan stepping into a bigger role, to seniors Nick Zeisloft and Max Bielfeldt coming off the bench.
Bielfeldt was awarded the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year award after averaging 8.0 and 4.5 rebounds in his 17.4 minutes a game.
Junior forward Tory Williams and Bryant were both named third team All-Big Ten.
At the awards show Monday night, Crean said all the players who earned more minutes because of injuries were a huge part of IU’s success.
And having someone like Ferrell leading his team was the most important piece of the puzzle.
“Yogi, at the end of the day, is the one that became such a great leader,” Crean said. “He’s taken his experience and his knowledge and really made that part of his teammates’ fabric. He took them along with him.”
