Big Ten Media Days news, nuggets and takeaways: Surprise newcomers, rotation developments ahead of tipoff

CHICAGO -- Big Ten Media Days provides a golden opportunity to pepper the who's who about the pressing issues in college athletics. Private equity in college sports? NCAA Tournament expansion? The 5-in-5 eligibility snafu? Transfer portal rules? Revenue sharing? It was all discussed ad nauseam.

Lost in the sauce might be ... the hoops.

"Can I hit you with an actual basketball question?" I asked Thursday.

"Yeah," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says with a laugh. "Hell of a theory!"

Here's what we gleaned.

Jeremy Fears Jr. is Michigan State's starting point guard, and Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper will form an intimidating, physical frontline trio. But it's a three-man race for the last starting spot between veteran Samford transfer Trey Fort, returning sophomore Kur Teng and emerging freshman Jordan Scott.

"That's the one missing link right now," Izzo said. "That two-guard is pretty important both offensively and defensively. It's going to be our biggest question mark."

Fort entered preseason as the favorite for the gig. He's a high-volume sniper from downtown who thrives in transition — long a staple of Izzo Ball — and he's already 24 years old. Defensively, though, is a major work in progress and was one of the reasons he fell out of the rotation the last time he was at a high-major program (Mississippi State in 2023-24).

"It's, uh, getting there," Izzo said. "But his offense is there."

Teng and Scott might be young, but they're itching for a chance. Teng's shooting stroke is legit, and he's had a full offseason to master this system and get up to speed. He's going to play. Michigan State looks poised to try and get Scott on the floor even more now that prized FAU transfer Kaleb Glenn will miss the entire season with a devastating torn patellar. Scott, who ranked just outside the top-50 in the Class of 2025, is all of 6-foot-7 with oodles of shooting and playmaking in his bag. His time is coming, maybe sooner than Michigan State even initially anticipated.

Big Ten foes shot a horrifying 70% at the rim against USC last season. That rated in the third percentile nationally, per CBB Analytics, and it proved to be an incredible hurdle for a Trojan club that finished 5-17 against top-100 teams last season.

Eric Musselman went all-in on addressing that in free agency and early returns have been positive. Auburn transfer Chad Baker-Mazara and Robert Morris transfer Amarion Dickerson have buffed up USC's wing defense. Ezra Ausar, Jacob Cofie and Gabe Dynes are three more transfers who should help USC's interior defense transform from a bad unit into a good one.

"Our lack of rim protection last year was, you know, I don't know what word to use," Musselman said. "But we're a lot different, you know, blocking shots at the wing position. We're a lot different blocking shots at the power forward spot and then at the center spot, obviously, with Gabe Dynes' ability to alter shots. We have so much different length than we had last year."

Musselman has long coveted positional size, but don't be surprised if 5-foot-11 point guard Jordan Marsh gets plenty of burn. Before five-star Alijah Arenas suffered a knee injury (he will be re-evaluated in January), Musselman had visions of Arenas running the show at point guard and USC having the tallest starting lineup in college basketball with 6-foot-5 Rodney Rice being the shortest player on the floor. Now, he's forced to pivot and Marsh, a UNC Asheville transfer, has shined.

"Jordan might be the biggest surprise that we've had," Musselman said. "We're going to need him to play a significant minutes. He changes the pace of the game for us. He can score at the point guard position. He's been a real, real pleasant surprise for us."

Big Ten basketball preseason media poll 2025-26: Purdue, Michigan State overrated; Indiana underrated

Washington forward Jacob Ognacevic will miss "about three months" with a foot injury, per UW coach Danny Sprinkle. Translation? More minutes are on the way for prized German freshman Hannes Steinbach, who has even earned some first-round buzz after a strong showing in this summer's FIBA U19 World Cup.

"He is a very good player," Sprinkle said. "There's times where you're still adjusting and being a freshman, too. We have to let him grow at his own pace. I don't want undue expectations on him. Like, he has expectations for himself, but I don't think everybody telling him he's a first-rounder getting drafted. Like, that's not fair, and I've told him that, I just need him to be Hannes because being Hannes is good enough, and it's going to help our team be the best we can be."

Offensive guru Kirk Penney chose to leave the Wisconsin staff to spend more time with his family in New Zealand, but the Badgers have no plans on slowing down offensively after building back-to-back top-20 offenses for the first time in the Greg Gard era. Over 48% of Wisconsin's shots last year were 3-pointers, but star junior guard John Blackwell hinted that the number would be even higher in 2025-26. Wisconsin's front line of Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp could combine for 10+ attempts from beyond the arc every night, and every guard in the Badgers' rotation (Blackwell, Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde, Jack Janicki and Braeden Carrington) is a dangerous shooting threat.

But you can't ignore the paint. With floor-stretching big men getting plenty of tick, don't be surprised to see the Badgers try to invert the floor with Blackwell as a bootyball threat. John Tonje was an elite post-up hub last year, and Blackwell plans to follow suit.

"I love post-ups," Blackwell said. "I don't care how tall you are. I love posting guards or bigs up. It's just a way I can add to my game, because obviously, you know, guys study my game now, and I'm at the top of the reports. You've got to add different layers to your game. I can confidently say I am one of the best back-to-the-basket guards in the country."

UCLA's offense was fine (37th nationally, fifth in Big Ten play) last year, despite rating in the first percentile nationally in shots at the rim, per CBB Analytics. That's going to change dramatically with star New Mexico transfer Donovan Dent in the fold.

"That's one of the things I feel like this team has been a lot better at is getting the paint," UCLA senior guard Skyy Clark said. "Even if it's not for a shot, just drawing the defense and kicking out for a 3. We've grown a lot in the area, and Donovan being there has been very beneficial."

There aren't quite as many freshmen sensations in the Big Ten this year after Dylan Harper, Derik Queen, Ace Bailey, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jase Richardson and Will Riley all became first-round picks. This iteration of Big Ten basketball is grizzled and packed with stud veterans, and there are only a handful of true freshmen expected to be rotation players on the best rosters.

But keep an eye on Ohio State freshman A'mare Bynum, who has a real path to a major role for the Buckeyes. Ohio State needs more defensive thump and physicality, and Bynum has both in spades. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward is competing with Wright State transfer Brandon Noel for minutes at the 4.

"A'mare is a special young man, and he's going to be a special player," Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. "We're anticipating him being really impactful for us. He's got a couple things going for him. He's got elite maturity. He wants to be coached, and I think the other thing is, he's got the physical tools to be impactful. I mean, he's got some real physicality to him as a freshman, and the consistency at which he operates and keeps coming back and asking for more work. It's been impressive. I think he's going to be ready to help us from Day One when we start games."

Michigan coach Dusty May is a tinkerer, through and through. No lineup combination is off the table. Michigan loaded up in the transfer portal, landing three of the best available frontcourt pieces: Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara. Don't be surprised if May tries to play all three of them together in his quest to dominate the paint on both ends of the floor. Lendeborg's versatility ties it all together, plus he's clearly going to shoot way more treys in this scheme.

"I thought before we signed Yax that it would be a tall task and that we'd have to really fit some things together," May told CBS Sports. "After coaching Yax this summer and fall, he's a guard. He's played some point guard duties. He's guarded point guards. He actually guards point guards better than he does 5 men, in my opinion. He's got a real unique skill set, and he loves to pass and he overpasses. Usually, that helps with chemistry."

It's not a coincidence that both May and Florida's Todd Golden -- two of the most analytically-tilting head coaches -- are experimenting with getting as much skilled size onto the floor as physically possible. The reigning champion Gators are primed to start Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu together. If the Basketball Gods gift us a Michigan-Florida tilt in March, May will have his own version of a three-big lineup ready to roll.

Minnesota was picked 16th in the Big Ten's preseason media poll, which is a different neck of the woods for new coach Niko Medved, who led Colorado State to the NCAAs in three of the past four seasons.

Medved needs to revive UNC transfer Cade Tyson if Minnesota wants to sniff a Big Dance appearance in Year 1. Tyson was a stud at Belmont and a total no-show at North Carolina. On paper, Tyson-to-Minnesota looks like a transfer portal fit made in heaven, but can it come together?

He works," Medved said. "He really cares. He's an elite shooter. Fit matters. Not to say he couldn't fit in at North Carolina or anything, but I'm hopeful that his role here, what we'll ask him to do, even the style of play that we have, is going to put him in positions where he can really play to his strengths.

"So far, I've seen that this summer. He's that guy you look at, and you're like, 'What position is Cade?' I don't know, but he can make shots. score around the basket, he's got a lot more pop athletically than people think, and he's got a toughness and competitiveness about him. Had he not gone in the transfer portal, I mean, he might have been Player of the Year in the Missouri Valley. We're really excited about Cade."

NCAA rule giving players a fifth year of eligibility may not be approved in time to help current seniors

• Purdue, who was the no-brainer pick to win the league, looks like it has everything it needs in the cooker to compete for the best offense in the country. Don't overlook All-American hopeful Trey Kaufman-Renn's transition to the 4 and how different Purdue's 5-man tandem of Daniel Jacobsen and Oscar Cluff is. Jacobsen is more of a pick-and-pop threat, while Cluff is that prototypical low-post, bulldozing scorer. Some of Kaufman-Renn's hot spots will be different depending on which center is on the floor. "Our scheme may be a little bit different, but we're still going to try a lot of the same actions," Kaufman-Renn said. "But they both have unique skill sets and do different things." The good thing for Purdue is that Matt Painter knows what he's doing, and Braden Smith is the best point guard in America. Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg gushed about Smith at every opportunity and dubbed him, 'the best pocket passer I've ever seen."
• Speaking of the Huskers, Hoiberg has accumulated serious frontcourt depth. A healthy Rienk Mast is the big man on campus, but Nebraska has Berke Buyuktuncel, Ugnius Jarusevicius, Leo Curtis and Jared Garcia. who can sop up minutes. Nebraska's defensive schemes limit paint touches as well as anybody in the Big Ten, and with this cavalry of bigs, that should be sticky in 2025-26.

• Illinois' presumed starting lineup of Mihailo Petrovic, Kylan Boswell, Andrej Stojakovic, Ben Humrichous and Tomislav Ivisic still has not gotten real preseason reps together. This is an Illinois squad that looks to be one of the best in the league, but the lack of cohesion is a cause for concern. Petrovic got on campus right before the fall semester started and still has not been cleared by the NCAA. Stojakovic suffered a knee sprain. Ivisic missed Big Ten Media Days due to a tonsillectomy and will be sidelined for a few weeks.

  "I haven't seen 'em all together," Underwood said, via Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner. "I love this team. I like our size, I like our versatility. I think that my questions arise because I haven't seen Andrej Stojakovic with Mihailo and the two bigs together. There's a lot of things I haven't seen yet. I love what we have the ability to be, especially offensively. We're more talented offensively than we were a year ago. Defensively, we got to continue to grow. I think that's always the slowest and the hardest thing to develop. But I do like our size. I do like our ability to protect the rim. But we're trying to win a national championship every time we start a season, and that's our standard. No different this year."

• New Iowa coach Ben McCollum has no plans of trying to get star point guard Bennett Stirtz more rest and is trying to develop multiple secondary options (like Isaia Howard) who can play on the ball and give Stirtz more opportunities to work as an off-ball weapon. "(Stirtz) is good on and off the ball, just depends on what we need that game," McCollum said. "And he gives him a rest, if you will, to where he doesn't have to bring it up maybe one possession, because the 30 seconds that I give him a break for sometimes isn't enough." Stirtz, who played 39.4 minutes per game last year, will be the Big Ten's Iron Man in 2025-26.