Big Ten Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
The Big Ten did not live up to its hallowed tradition in 2003-04. As expected, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan State were the dominant teams. The Illini struggled during their non-conference schedule with a loss at North Carolina, a surprising loss in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in December to Providence and had to fight for an overtime victory at home over Missouri Valley bottom dweller Illinois State.
Michigan State entered the 2003-04 season with the nation’s number three ranking and possibly the conference’s most talented team. An 0-6 record against six of the best programs in college basketball had the Spartans chasing their top five ranking the remainder of the season. The highlight of the non-conference schedule for the Big Ten was Purdue winning the Great Alaska Shootout. The Boilermakers defeated Texas State, Seton Hall and Duke on their way to the championship. In the title game, the Boilers held the Blue Devils to 38 percent shooting to cement the 78-68 victory.
The Big Ten-ACC challenge was a disaster for the Big Ten. Only Michigan and Purdue posted wins and the Boilers victory was at Mackey Arena over the ACC’s last place team, Clemson.
Conference Season
The conference season began with Wisconsin and Penn State sharing the lead after the first week. After an inconsistent 6-5 non-conference mark, the Nittany Lions seemed to be hitting their stride in January. Victories at home over Ohio State and Minnesota might have been a bit misleading. Penn State won only one of their last 14 games and finished last in the Big Ten for the third year in a row. Illinois had trouble early in the conference season with a 1-2 record and would improve it to only 3-3. Their turning point came after a loss at Wisconsin. The Badgers throttled the Illini 76-56. That loss put the players in a desperate mode to listen to their new coach Bruce Weber. After that, Illinois ran off 12 straight wins, not losing until the Badgers got them for the second time in three games in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game.
The surprise team of the year was Northwestern. The Wildcats staggered out of the gate with a 5-7 record, including a loss to Mississippi Valley State at the Sierra Providence Sun Classic in El Paso. That loss eventually cost the Wildcats an NIT bid. They made a great run during the conference season. After a blowout loss at Michigan to begin the Big Ten season, NU pulled an upset at Iowa and would post victories over Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue. They tied for fifth place with Michigan and Bill Carmody earned the Big Ten coach of the year award.
The Big Ten’s most disappointing teams came from the Hoosier state. Purdue began the season with a 14-4 record. With six seniors, they seemed poised to challenge Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin for the title. Chris Booker, the Boilermakers best big man was declared academically ineligible in December and Purdue never recovered. The victory over Duke remained their season highlight. Their first meeting with Notre Dame in 39 years ended the Boilers’ season in the NIT.
Indiana’s season could be summed up in three stages. They began the season 6-6 losing by 33 at Wake Forest in the Big Ten-ACC challenge and by 39 to Kentucky. Other than Bracey Wright, there was not much to cheer about. Many in the Hoosier nation were calling for a resignation or firing of Mike Davis.
IU started the Big Ten season with a disastrous 79-45 loss at Wisconsin. That seemed to wake them up. The Hoosiers ran off five consecutive victories and shared the Big Ten lead with the Badgers. They were playing excellent team ball despite the loss of their only inside presence, senior center George Leach.
The final stage of their season was a near complete collapse. IU finished 3-9, 2-8 to complete the season 14-15, 7-9 and miss the post season for the first time since 1977. IU had been in 18 straight NCAA tournaments through 2003.
Devin Harris was clearly the conference’s best player in 2004. Harris dropped 38 on Minnesota and had eight games over 24 points this year. He led the Badgers in scoring, assists, steals, three pointers made and attempted and free throws made and attempted. Harris was the unquestioned leader of a team that challenged for the Big Ten title until the final weekend. Harris did this without Alando Tucker, their most athletic player, and McDonald’s All-American Brian Butch sitting out the entire season.
Kris Humphries boldly went where no man had gone before by becoming the first freshman to lead the conference in scoring and rebounding. He captured the conference freshman of the year award and earned first team all conference. Unfortunately for Dan Monson, the Gophers still finished in tenth place and Humphries announced he was entering the NBA draft.
Big Ten Tournament
Northwestern and Penn State launched the Big Ten tournament with equally dismal performances at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Wildcats overcame 32 percent shooting in the first half by grabbing 17 of their Big Ten record 22 steals in the first half and forced the Lions into 20 of their 26 turnovers in the opening stanza. They shot better in the second half to advance past the Nittany Lions 57-52.
The game of the tournament was the semifinal between Michigan State and Wisconsin. The teams went back and forth before Devin Harris took over late to carry the Badgers to a 68-66 victory and their first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game. Harris scored eight points in the final three minutes. The entire second half was tense with four ties, six lead changes and a lead of no larger than five by either team.
After a hard fought semifinal, the Badgers figured to enter the championship game sluggish. Illinois breezed through its semifinal against Michigan with a 74-60 victory. The Illini were the team that appeared to have the edge in the final. The Badgers took control early and never trailed to win its first Big Ten Tournament championship, 70-53.
Postseason
Wisconsin may hold the Big Ten Tournament title, but it was Illinois that earned the Big Ten’s highest seed in the NCAA tournament. The Illini were the fifth seed in the Atlanta region and spent the first two rounds in Columbus. Only Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan State were granted bids to the NCAA tournament. It was the lowest the Big Ten received since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Illinois began the tournament with a 73-52 blowout win over Murray State. After the Racers hung close for a while, the Illini used an 18-2 run late in the first half and never led by less than six the rest of the way. The win pushed them through to a meeting with fourth seed Cincinnati in the second round. The Bearcats had to struggle to get past East Tennessee in an 80-77 first round win. Illinois thoroughly dominated Cincinnati to win 92-68. Deron Williams was virtually unconscious in the first half. The Texan hit all six of his first half shots and buried all five of his three pointers to score 17 of his game high 31. The victory propelled the Illini to a meeting with Duke in Atlanta. Illinois seemed a bit in awe of the Duke mystique. Bruce Weber’s young team had trouble generating offense and fell 72-62 to the Blue Devils in the Atlanta regional semifinal. It was the third time in four years the Illini lost at the regionals.
Wisconsin wasn’t pleased with its number six seed, but they were very pleased with its assignment. Placed in Milwaukee, the Badgers would be in front of its home crowd. In the first round, the Badgers staged a nearly improbable second half comeback to overcome Richmond in a 74-64 first round victory. Trailing 38-25 the Badgers went on a 24-9 run to open the second half and a 14-0 run later to put the game away and set up a meeting with Pittsburgh. Mike Wilkinson led the way with 18 points and five rebounds and Boo Wade had 16 and four assists.
Known as a tough physical, defensive team, the Badgers met their match against Pittsburgh in the second round. The Panthers were bigger, tougher and made more key shots down the stretch to send most of the 18,866 at the Bradley Center home disappointed. Devin Harris had a solid post-season averaging 16 points, five assists and five rebounds. Wilkinson pitched in with 13.5 and 5.5.
Michigan State appeared on its way to a convincing victory when they took a 16 point lead in the first half. They struggled to score the rest of the way and eventually succumbed to Nevada 72-66. Paul Davis led the Spartans with 16 points and six rebounds, but was the only Spartan with more than 10. Wolfpack star Kirk Snyder paced four Nevada players with at least 12 by scoring 19. A late second half drought did the Spartans in. After two Alan Anderson free throws put MSU ahead 63-56 with 6:53 left in the second half, the Spartans would not score again until Maurice Ager hit a three pointer with 20 seconds left.
The Great Lakes state’s other Big Ten team fared much better in the postseason. After reaching the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, Michigan was hopeful about an NCAA bid. That goal fell short, but the Wolverines made the most of their NIT experience.
Michigan met up with Missouri in the first round. The match up pitted former Duke Teammates Michigan Head Coach Tommy Amaker and Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder. The Wolverines needed a late runner by Daniel Horton to advance past the Tigers 65-64. Big Blue followed that up with convincing wins over Oklahoma and Hawaii to book a trip to Madison Square Garden.
In New York, they blasted Oregon in the semifinals 78-53 to set up a meeting with Rutgers in the championship game. The title bout was a tribute to the survive and advance mentality of post season basketball. The Wolverines captured a 62-55 victory in an ugly game to earn the school’s third NIT championship. Daniel Horton was named the tournament MVP and Dion Harris also was named to the all tournament team.
Purdue ventured into post season basketball with a four game losing streak. They were unable to break their mindset as they lost their NIT opener 71-59 to Notre Dame. Incredibly, the loss was their first meeting with the Fighting Irish in 39 years. Purdue was done in by a pair of unlikely sources. Chris Quinn’s 21 and Rick Cornett with 16 offset an off night by Irish star Chris Thomas. The only Boilermakers in double figures were Brett Buscher with 12 and David Teague with 10. Kenneth Lowe ended his career with five points on only 2-8 from the floor.
Similar to Michigan State in the NCAA’s, Iowa appeared to be cruising towards the second round. The Hawkeyes opened a 17 point lead, only to see St. Louis’ furious rally. The fatal blow to the Hawks season was a three by the Billikins Anthony Drejaj at the buzzer. Iowa was led by Jeff Horner with 17 and Pierre Pierce with 16.
Player of the Year:
Devin Harris – Wisconsin
Coach of the Year:
The only all-league honor I would dissent from is coach of the year. Bill Carmody earned the award and without a doubt did an incredible job at Northwestern this season. The fact that Wisconsin was in the race for the Big Ten title and earned the tournament title should have secured the award for Badger boss Bo Ryan. The Badgers lost their second best and most athletic player Alando Tucker for all but four games with a broken foot in the preseason. With the decision of McDonald’s All-American Brian Butch to redshirt, Ryan was without two thirds of his expected frontline.
Sixth Man of the Year:
The Big Ten doesn’t award a sixth man of the year award. Two outstanding unsung heroes deserve the award for 2003-04. Aaron Johnson played like a starter for Penn State for most of the season. He finished at 9.7 PPG, 6.5 Rebounds and shot 48 percent from the field. He helped the Nittany Lions by finishing the season with five double-doubles and had his best outing of the year against the thin front line of Indiana with 28 points and 15 rebounds.
Dion Harris improved as the season went along. The first team all Big Ten freshman scored in double figures in 15 games and averaged 10.1 PPG and shot 34.1 percent from three point range. By posting a 13.6 average in the NIT and making the all tournament team, Harris gets the nod over Johnson for the sixth man of the year.
The performance of the season also belongs to Devin Harris. Against Minnesota any and every superlative would have applied. He scorched the Golden Gophers for 38 points in an 80-66 Wisconsin win.
The Big Ten should regain its spot among the nation’s elite conferences in 2004-05. Three of the conference’s top four teams return the majority of its core and in some cases will bring in difference makers. Illinois will likely enter the season in the top ten nationally, while Wisconsin and Michigan State should be in the top 25. Michigan is a team to watch and could be ranked in some top 25s. The Big Ten should be able to improve on only one team in the sweet 16 in 2004. All of the Big Ten schools are drivable from next season’s Final Four in St. Louis. With two of the Final Four in 1999 and 2000, a repeat in 2005 is possible.
Looking Ahead
Losing Humphries after a stellar freshman season was not a surprise for the Big Ten. When Harris announced his intension to enter the NBA draft, Badger nation suffered from a case of what might have been. Wisconsin will still have a strong team with the return of Boo Wade and Mike Wilkinson plus Alando Tucker, Brian Butch and Sharif Chambliss coming off redshirt seasons and the addition of high school All-American Greg Stiemsma. With Harris the Badgers would have been a legitimate top ten team, without him, they should still be in the top 20.
One of the biggest surprises on the NBA’s early entry list was Illinois forward Roger Powell. After gauging his position, it was no surprise when Powell decided to return to school. Strangely enough, Illinois mentor Bruce Weber learned of Powell’s original intensions when seeing the original list of early entry candidates.
Team news
The 2003-04 Big Ten season was one full of news and events. A plethora of Big Ten players transferred during the course of the season and after. Ohio State’s Jim O’Brien was forced out after he disclosed he gave Buckeye recruit Alexander Radojevic’s mother $6,000. Xavier’s Thad Matta was named as O’Brien’s successor.
Iowa
Injuries and academic casualties hampered Big Ten teams throughout the season. Iowa was clearly decimated the most. The Hawkeyes lost Nick DeWitz and Mike Henderson to academics in December. DeWitz later decided to move on to Oregon State. Jared Reiner, who led the Big Ten in rebounding in 2003, was lost for the season in January with a broken foot. His backup Sean Sonderleiter left the team a week later for personal and family reasons.
Northwestern
Jitim Young hopes to become the first Wildcat to make an NBA roster since Evan Eschmeyer entered the NBA in 1999. Despite the loss of Young, the future looks bright in E-Town. Guards Mohamad Hachad and T.J. Parker return and NU will have transfers Michael Thompson from Duke and Tim Boyle from St. John’s eligible next season. Kentucky’s Bernard Cote also announced his intension to enroll at Northwestern, but he will have to sit out a year before regaining his eligibility in 2005-06.
Michigan
Tommy Amaker led Michigan through an up and down season that concluded with the NIT championship. Bernard Robinson Jr. helped Amaker mentor a young Wolverine team that should be headed back to the NCAA’s next season. Robinson will depart along with Colin Dill. The return of the backcourt of Lester Abram, Dion Harris and Daniel Horton makes the Wolverines a sleeper in the Big Ten race.
Purdue
It has been an eventful off season in West Lafayette. It began with Gene Keady chasing and subsequently turning down the head coaching position at San Francisco. Keady wanted a greater commitment from Purdue Athletic Director Morgan Burke. Southern Illinois’s Matt Painter was brought in to be Keady’s chief assistant in 2004-05 and will then take over the as the head coach in 2005-06.
Illinois
Purdue decision to bring in Painter also affected the Illini. Illinois assistant Chris Lowery took over the head coaching job in Carbondale after one season in Champaign. To complete the coaching carousel, Tracy Webster left Purdue and will succeed Lowery as an assistant at Illinois. Webster played at Wisconsin and grew up in the Chicago area. He should provide Bruce Weber with an excellent pipeline in Chicagoland for the Illini.
The Illini also gained a commitment to their 2005 recruiting class. Marcus Arnold announced he was transferring from Illinois State. The 6’8 junior forward will be a welcome addition, as Roger Powell, Luther Head, Jack Ingram and Nick Smith will be seniors next season. Arnold averaged 12.3 PPG and 4.6 rebounds for the Redbirds in 2004.
Illinois extended Weber’s contract by one season through 2009 and gave him a $50,000 per year increase to $200,000 annually. Weber just concluded his first season in Champaign by leading the Illini to their first outright Big Ten title since 1952. Weber’s total annual pay will be about $500,000 when camps and appearance fees for radio and television shows and speaking engagements are added to the equation.
Indiana
The Hoosiers have had a hectic off season. The Hoosiers lost High School phenom Josh Smith to the NBA draft, which was not a big surprise, but when 7’0 center Robert Rothbart also decided to put his name in the IU faithful was thrown for a loop. Thankfully for Davis, he took his name out before the draft and will enroll in Bloomington. Indiana also learned that Marco Killingsworth and Lewis Monroe will transfer from Auburn to Bloomington. They will have one year of eligibility commencing in the fall of 2005. Killingsworth put up 13.7 PPG and 6.7 rebounds and Monroe posted 6.1 PPG.
There is plenty of talent on hand in Bloomington. Bracey Wright will look to improve on an up and down sophomore year and Marshall Strickland will try to live up the high expectations bestowed upon him when he entered IU. With the graduation of George Leach, someone will have to emerge up front or Mike Davis’ job security might be in jeopardy.
Wisconsin
If the loss of Harris wasn’t tough enough, Sharif Chambliss will spend the off-season rehabbing his knee after tearing his ACL. How well he recovers will play a large part in the success of the 2004-05 Badgers.
Penn State
Penn State’s season looked promising after opening the Big Ten season 2-0. A rash of defections doomed the Nittany Lions to another last place finish. Brandon Cameron announced he was transferring and he would eventually land at IUPUI. De Forrest Riley-Smith wanted to return home and moved on to Xavier. At the end of the season, Aaron Johnson declared his intensions to play for another school. The freshman backcourt of Ben Luber and Marlon Smith gives Ed DeChellis a positive eye towards the future.
Michigan State
After a largely disappointing season in 2004, Michigan State will look to bounce back in 2005. The return of the core players ensures that the Spartans will once again challenge for the Big Ten crown. After flirting with a few NBA top jobs, Tom Izzo decided to stay in East Lansing. The current cast of Spartans has unfinished business.
Ohio State
Geiger had given O’Brien the option of resigning after the recruiting allegations were released. When he refused, Geiger was left with no choice but to relieve O’Brien of his duties. O’Brien did restore some pride to the Buckeye program in his six years in Columbus. He compiled a 133-88 record in seven years and led the Bucks to their first final four appearance in 31 years in 1999. Matta led both Xavier and Butler to the NCAA tournament and is a rising star in the coaching profession.
Minnesota
The exodus continues in the Twin Cities. A year after star forward Rick Rickert left for NBA riches, Kris Humphries followed suit at the end of the this season. Humphries had a spectacular season in his one year at the barn, but that was unable to translate into wins. Earlier in the season, Maurice Hargrow left UM and eventually moved on to Arkansas. His replacement, Stan Gaines, decided to take his game to Seton Hall in the off-season.
Minnesota also lost Ben Johnson, Michael Bauer and two other seniors to graduation. The outlook for 2005 is bleak. Returnees Jeff Hagen and Aliou Kane were contributors in 2004, but not the kind of players that can carry a team.
If Monson doesn’t get the Gophers on the road to respectability soon, he might be looking for a new job in the spring of 2005.
