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You’re Nuts: Who will be the best duo in Big Ten men’s basketball this season?
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Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
In a deep, 18-team Big Ten, the best teams will be the ones who can go to multiple guys for crunch-time baskets.
If you didn’t hear, the Big Ten conference expanded to 18 teams this offseason with the addition of Washington, USC, UCLA, and Oregon as the PAC-12 crumbled and its members quickly latched on to other conferences. While we will certainly mourn the holy practice of watching “PAC-12 after dark” at midnight once all other sports have finished for the night, the move was made primarily for football reasons.
Major conferences are suiting up for an arms race as college football barrels closer and closer to creating its own collaboration that will separate it from the NCAA completely. However, on the basketball side, adding four west coast schools not only complicates travel and scheduling logistics, it also makes winning the conference that much harder.
Ohio State hasn’t won the Big Ten since 2012, and now the conference is expanding from 14 to 18 teams. These four teams combined for eight NCAA Tournament appearances the past four years.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated who will be the best player the Buckeyes will face in the non-conference schedule this season. Justin went with Auburn’s All-American center Johni Broome, while Connor picked Texas A&M’s All-SEC guard Wade Taylor. The readers sided with Justin in a blowout, as 65% of them picked Broome. The remaining 35% of the vote was split between Taylor and “other.”
Connor- 79
As stated above, Ohio State is going to see every great player the conference has to offer this season. But the best teams have at least two go-to guys. This week, we’re debating which Big Ten team has the best scoring duo in the conference.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25585164/1895626182.jpg "Stone Hill v Rutgers")
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
If you’ve watched Rutgers basketball for the last several seasons, you have a pretty good idea of the Scarlet Knights’ identity. Steve Pikiell’s teams play viciously physical defense — you’ll take elbows to the ribs, hips to your back, and get picked up defensively the minute you inbound the ball.
However, Rutgers has been horrendous on the offensive end recently, finishing outside of the top-80 in offensive efficiency each of the last four seasons, per KenPom. This past March, the Buckeyes held Rutgers to 51 points on 27.3% shooting (!!), as Ohio State beat the Scarlet Knights by 22 at the RAC.
This year’s Rutgers team is going to be quite different with the addition of five-star freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Harper was the No. 3 recruit in the 2024 class and Bailey was No. 2, becoming the first top-three duo from the same class to commit to the same school since Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead both went to Duke in 2022. The Blue Devils also snagged two of the top three recruits in 2018 when RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish both committed to Duke.
Harper is a 6-foot-6 combo guard from New Jersey and the younger brother of former Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. There are very few holes in his game — at 215 pounds he’s fast enough to slash to the basket and big enough to finish below it. He’s improved his jumper, and has a high basketball IQ to get others involved. He’s currently mocked to be the No. 2 selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Bailey is a 6-foot-10 forward from Tennessee. He committed to Rutgers early in 2023 and went to work recruiting Harper, who always had exposure to the program because of his older brother. Bailey is an athletic, lanky forward with a massive wingspan. He is one of the better shooters in the class, making him a brutal matchup for defenders. He’s currently projected to be a top-three pick in next summer’s NBA Draft.
It would not surprise me at all if the duo of Harper and Bailey combine to average 30 points per game or more for Rutgers. They’re the most talented duo in the Big Ten since Mike Conley and Greg Oden (in my opinion), and will be must-watch basketball once we get into Big Ten play.
There are many very good duos, both backcourts and frontcourts, in the conference — especially with four more teams than last season. I almost picked Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson, but I will avoid Ohio State for this and go to a different team.
I am so high on Indiana this season, and a big reason for that is their frontcourt. They have a lethal trio of Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, and Gonzaga and Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo. But since this is picking a duo, I will pick Reneau and Ballo.
Reneau averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season in 33 games. In his career over 68 appearances, he has tallied 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Ballo, meanwhile, has averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds in 36 games. In his career, he has played in 132 contests, recording 9.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
During his time at Arizona and Gonzaga, Ballo was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, Pac-12 All-Defense, and WCC All-Freshman.
Even if Ballo didn’t transfer in, Reneau and Mgbako would have been a great duo. Now, those three will be almost impossible to stop. As long as the Hoosiers guard play is better than last season, this will be a top 10-15 team in the country.
Continue reading...
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
In a deep, 18-team Big Ten, the best teams will be the ones who can go to multiple guys for crunch-time baskets.
If you didn’t hear, the Big Ten conference expanded to 18 teams this offseason with the addition of Washington, USC, UCLA, and Oregon as the PAC-12 crumbled and its members quickly latched on to other conferences. While we will certainly mourn the holy practice of watching “PAC-12 after dark” at midnight once all other sports have finished for the night, the move was made primarily for football reasons.
Major conferences are suiting up for an arms race as college football barrels closer and closer to creating its own collaboration that will separate it from the NCAA completely. However, on the basketball side, adding four west coast schools not only complicates travel and scheduling logistics, it also makes winning the conference that much harder.
Ohio State hasn’t won the Big Ten since 2012, and now the conference is expanding from 14 to 18 teams. These four teams combined for eight NCAA Tournament appearances the past four years.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated who will be the best player the Buckeyes will face in the non-conference schedule this season. Justin went with Auburn’s All-American center Johni Broome, while Connor picked Texas A&M’s All-SEC guard Wade Taylor. The readers sided with Justin in a blowout, as 65% of them picked Broome. The remaining 35% of the vote was split between Taylor and “other.”
After 166 weeks:
Connor- 79
Justin- 67
Other- 16
(There have been four ties)
As stated above, Ohio State is going to see every great player the conference has to offer this season. But the best teams have at least two go-to guys. This week, we’re debating which Big Ten team has the best scoring duo in the conference.
This week’s question: What will be the best duo in Big Ten men’s basketball this season?
Connor: Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper
If you’ve watched Rutgers basketball for the last several seasons, you have a pretty good idea of the Scarlet Knights’ identity. Steve Pikiell’s teams play viciously physical defense — you’ll take elbows to the ribs, hips to your back, and get picked up defensively the minute you inbound the ball.
However, Rutgers has been horrendous on the offensive end recently, finishing outside of the top-80 in offensive efficiency each of the last four seasons, per KenPom. This past March, the Buckeyes held Rutgers to 51 points on 27.3% shooting (!!), as Ohio State beat the Scarlet Knights by 22 at the RAC.
This year’s Rutgers team is going to be quite different with the addition of five-star freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Harper was the No. 3 recruit in the 2024 class and Bailey was No. 2, becoming the first top-three duo from the same class to commit to the same school since Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead both went to Duke in 2022. The Blue Devils also snagged two of the top three recruits in 2018 when RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish both committed to Duke.
Harper is a 6-foot-6 combo guard from New Jersey and the younger brother of former Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. There are very few holes in his game — at 215 pounds he’s fast enough to slash to the basket and big enough to finish below it. He’s improved his jumper, and has a high basketball IQ to get others involved. He’s currently mocked to be the No. 2 selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Bailey is a 6-foot-10 forward from Tennessee. He committed to Rutgers early in 2023 and went to work recruiting Harper, who always had exposure to the program because of his older brother. Bailey is an athletic, lanky forward with a massive wingspan. He is one of the better shooters in the class, making him a brutal matchup for defenders. He’s currently projected to be a top-three pick in next summer’s NBA Draft.
It would not surprise me at all if the duo of Harper and Bailey combine to average 30 points per game or more for Rutgers. They’re the most talented duo in the Big Ten since Mike Conley and Greg Oden (in my opinion), and will be must-watch basketball once we get into Big Ten play.
Justin: Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo
There are many very good duos, both backcourts and frontcourts, in the conference — especially with four more teams than last season. I almost picked Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson, but I will avoid Ohio State for this and go to a different team.
I am so high on Indiana this season, and a big reason for that is their frontcourt. They have a lethal trio of Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, and Gonzaga and Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo. But since this is picking a duo, I will pick Reneau and Ballo.
Reneau averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season in 33 games. In his career over 68 appearances, he has tallied 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Ballo, meanwhile, has averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds in 36 games. In his career, he has played in 132 contests, recording 9.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
During his time at Arizona and Gonzaga, Ballo was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, Pac-12 All-Defense, and WCC All-Freshman.
Even if Ballo didn’t transfer in, Reneau and Mgbako would have been a great duo. Now, those three will be almost impossible to stop. As long as the Hoosiers guard play is better than last season, this will be a top 10-15 team in the country.
Continue reading...