Big Ten Basketball Media Days: Purdue's title chances, Michigan State's next star, more

Coming off a year that saw the conference represented in the national championship game, with Purdue reaching the title for the first time since 1980, the Big Ten is in strong position heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.

While there is a level of unknown for virtually every college basketball program in the country with the current climate of chaos in the sport, there is a target on the back of the Boilermakers, despite losing two-time national college player of the year Zach Edey. You wouldn’t think a program that lost its 7-foot-4 big man who averaged 25.2 points and 12.2 rebounds last season would still be the preseason No. 1 team in the conference media poll, but that’s the case for 20th-year head coach Matt Painter and his team.

The Boilermakers didn’t add a single scholarship transfer this offseason, but they do have the Big Ten preseason player of the year in junior point guard Braden Smith.

“We didn’t have anybody leave to go into the portal,” Painter said on the Big Ten’s media day telecast. “That was big for us because we didn’t have to deal with recruiting all spring and into the summer and not knowing who we are. Now, we’re able to develop and know the guys on our team.

“We had a great summer. We do have three starters back from a Final Four team that made the national title game. Now, it’s about blending in the five freshmen that we have and understanding what we do and how we do it.”

The expectations don’t change in West Lafayette, even without Edey, who was selected ninth overall in the NBA Draft. With the guard play of Smith and classmate Fletcher Loyer, along with big man Trey Kaufman-Renn, who Painter believes will have a huge year, there’s a core in place for the Boilers to be in the running for a three-peat in the league.

But that was only one of the many takeaways from the conference’s media day festivities on Thursday. Here are five other storylines to zone in on as we inch toward the 2024-25 Big Ten basketball season:

The vibes are high in Bloomington. Could Indiana win the Big Ten?

The Hoosiers absolutely can. Mike Woodson and his staff went on the attack this offseason to collect the nation’s No. 2 transfer class, according to 247 Sports. Bringing in an All-American-caliber big man in Oumar Ballo, guards Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, and a sharpshooter from Illinois in Luke Goode, makes for a really nice group of additions. But in this sport, roster retention is so critical, and IU was able to garner that momentum with the return of junior star Malik Reneau, rising sophomore standout Mackenzie Mgbako, and veteran leader Trey Galloway.

The Hoosiers have the blend of weapons to make this Woodson’s best team. The 66-year-old, who enters his fourth year at the helm at his alma mater, said his program took a step back last year when they missed the NCAA Tournament after reaching March Madness in his first two campaigns.

“The goal here continues to be the same: It’s about winning Big Ten titles and national titles at Indiana,” Woodson told Big Ten Network. “I remember the good old days back when I played and some of the great years Bob Knight had at Indiana that have been missing. We have to get back to that. We still have a long way to go as a ball club, but our summer program went extremely well, and now we need our veterans to lead.”

Woodson, who has said he wants to adapt and play more perimeter-based with this group after being more traditional with two post players in the game together at most times last year, looks as though he’s ready to adapt on the offensive end of the ball. The Hoosiers have the personnel to succeed. This year feels like a pivotal season in the Woodson Era, one that should have Assembly Hall on fire.

Tom Izzo is challenging Jaden Akins to rise up as his next star.

Michigan State looks the part of a top-three team in the Big Ten, provided the Spartans stay healthy. But just how good will the Spartans be in Izzo’s 30th season? The Hall of Famer made it a point to challenge one of his junior standouts on Thursday.

“I think depth is one of our strengths heading into this year, but it can be a positive and a negative thing because you’re looking for the main guy,” Izzo said. “We need one or two guys to step up, and I’m hoping Jaden Akins can be one of those guys.”

The 6-4 guard averaged 10.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, combining for 26 and 11 in two NCAA Tournament games. Now, Izzo wants to see Akins take the torch and be the focal point of Michigan State’s team with AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker gone. Omaha transfer Frankie Fidler, who averaged over 20 points per game last year and will be a starter on the wing, is expected to be a key cog, but Izzo challenging Akins publicly speaks volumes about what he expects from him in his third year.

As for another key Spartan update from Rosemont, Izzo said former five-star recruit Xavier Booker put in a ton of work in the weight room this past summer, increasing his weight from 217 pounds to 240. After an underwhelming freshman season, Izzo said he envisions Booker taking a massive leap after averaging just 3.7 points per game last season.

New men on campus: Freshmen look to live up to the hype at Rutgers and Maryland

It’s the most highly anticipated season on the banks of the Raritan. Steve Pikiell enters Year 9 at the helm at Rutgers by welcoming in the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked recruits in the nation, according to 247 Sports. Dylan Harper, the 6-6 younger brother of Ron Harper Jr. and son of five-time NBA champion Ron Sr., is joined by 6-10 prospect Ace Bailey to form as compelling a freshman duo that we’ve seen at a non-blue blood program. Being at Scarlet Knights practice last week, the upside and talent of both freshmen lends itself to believing they will be two of the top picks in the NBA Draft next June at the Barclays Center. Harper’s smooth playmaking ability and shooting technique is impressive, and his leadership, along with a physically mature body at 18 years old, really stood out. As for Bailey, Pikiell told FOX Sports that he is the most unique player he’s ever coached, with the freshman being able to play all five positions and having a complete offensive skill set paired with great length.

As for how Pikiell is handling the hype, he didn’t shy away from it:

“Every year I have been here I still have that trophy case in my office looking to win a national championship,” Pikiell said. “From Day 1, the first year I got here, I have been trying to win it. So as far as expectations, bring them on. I love that.”

There are expectations for a bounce-back season in College Park, where Kevin Willard looks to respond in his third year at the helm. Maryland is coming off a 16-17 campaign in 2023-24 that saw the Terps at the bottom of the Big Ten in 3-point shooting. While Willard noted he attacked the portal with a focus on adding shotmakers, he was able to do that because of one of the highest ranked recruits in Terrapins history, Derik Queen (No. 12 in Class of 2025), coming to the program as a one-and-done specimen. The 6-10, 246-pound center will pair with senior Julian Reese to form one of the top frontcourt duos in the country. Willard said Queen isn’t a typical freshman because of how much he was looking forward to pairing with a veteran, not being fearful of the competition involved with that in a locker room.

“Derik comes from a great family, and has a terrific group of people around him,” Willard said. “What stands out to me is how excited he is to play with Julian. Derik’s like a sponge as a learner. He will ask us what he should do in certain situations and coverages. He’s not afraid to be challenged and coached. We have really high expectations for Derek, and he has high expectations for himself.”

If Belmont transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie and South Florida transfer Selton Miguel can both perform the way Willard was talking about them on Thursday, Maryland should get back to the NCAA Tournament this year and look to build on Willard’s first season, when the program advanced to the Round of 32.

It’s May in Michigan, and the Wolverines are underrated.

Seeing Michigan Basketball at ninth in the Big Ten preseason poll feels like a recipe for the Wolverines to exceed that marker. Dusty May, who took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023, takes over in Ann Arbor and has built a roster that has the makings of an NCAA Tournament team.

The biggest strength: pairing up former FAU standout Vlad Goldin at the center position with unanimous Ivy League first-team selection and former Yale star Danny Wolf. Not one, but two 7-footers together? May believes it will cause matchup problems for everybody else.

“We should be able to control the glass and find mismatches with those two,” May said. “You can play over the top with your passing. We want to be a challenge to guard. That’s my biggest thing.”

May also brought in 6-10 Alabama transfer Sam Walters, who the Michigan head coach said will provide perimeter shooting and mismatches. Walters shot 39% from deep as a freshman.

With Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson, who was a teammate of Walters and has been friends with him since the seventh grade, along with Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle, the Wolverines should have a solid backcourt. Can May level up to the Big Ten? There are plenty of indicators that say the answer to that question is “yes.”

UCLA can challenge for the Big Ten title, and Mick Cronin is confident in his Bruins.

Of the new additions to the Big Ten, expect UCLA and Oregon to make the most noise in Year 1, with the Bruins as a legitimate title contender in the conference.

Up until last season’s disappointing 16-17 campaign, Mick Cronin had UCLA dreaming of the glory days again. The Bruins went to the Final Four in 2021 and reached three straight Sweet 16s with a 31-win season in 2022-23.

Last season spiraled due to a number of reasons, including poor perimeter shooting, as the Bruins shot 33% from downtown and had a lot of youth on their roster.

Junior Dylan Andrews and sophomore Sebastian Mack are looking to build off their double-digit scoring campaigns last year, but Cronin also had to reel in talent from the transfer portal. The Bruins brought in transfers Kobe Johnson (USC), Skyy Clark (Louisville), Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State), William Kyle (South Dakota State) and more.

“We were just not old enough last year,” Cronin told the Big Ten Network. “The reality of college basketball, we needed to get older and we needed a leader. Kobe Johnson is a huge addition for us. I’ll be shocked if he is not an all-league player when it matters in the postseason, when the votes are tallied up. He’s just a winner. He defends. He’s as good a defensive player as I have ever coached, and I coached a national player of the year two years ago defensively in Jaylen Clark.”

Cronin compared putting a roster together at UCLA with NIL dollars to another big brand in sports: the Bronx Bombers.

“It’s almost like the Yankees,” he said. “You have to go out and get a whole bunch of free agents and figure it out. We’re in the process of that and trying to develop some winning habits, but I like the fact that we’re more talented. I like the fact that we’re older. Now we just have to become a team that knows how to win. It’s a lot of pressure. I understand that. We have high expectations at UCLA to try to get the 12th banner up there, but there’s nothing I would rather be doing.”

With Cronin thinking that way, perhaps the Bruins could accelerate to the top of the league. One thing is for certain: Having UCLA only helps the league’s cause to win a national title, which has not happened since Michigan State climbed the mountaintop in 2000.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.