Bates-Diop is tops in AP Big Ten awards

Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop is The Associated Press player of the year in the Big Ten and the Buckeyes’ Chris Holtmann is its coach of the year. BatesDiop and Purdue’s Carsen Edwards were unanimous picks.

Ohio State’s Keita BatesDiop is The Associated Press player of the year in the Big Ten Conference and the Buckeyes’ Chris Holtmann is its coach of the year.

Bates-Diop and Purdue’s Carsen Edwards were unanimous picks to the AP All-Big Ten team also announced Wednesday, the first day of the conference tournament in New York. Michigan State freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. was picked as newcomer of the year and defensive player of the year in voting by 12 journalists who cover the league.

Joining Bates-Diop and Edwards on the all-conference first team are Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Penn State’s Tony Carr. Happ is a repeat first-team pick. Bridges was on the second team last year.

Bates-Diop is second in the conference in scoring (19.2 points per game) and tied for second in rebounding (8.9 per game). The 6-foot-7, 235-pound junior’s 12 doubledoubles are tied for second in the Big Ten. Edwards averages a team-leading 18.2 points for Purdue, has scored 10 or more points in 14 straight games and is averaging 23.1 points per game in February.

The second team is made up of Purdue’s Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas, Michigan’s Moritz Wagner, Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr., and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston.

Holtmann, hired in June after spending the previous three years at Butler, took over a team that finished 11th in the Big Ten and returned just five players. The Buckeyes finished the regular season 24-7 and second in the conference at 15-3, more than double the number of Big Ten wins of a year ago.

The 24 wins are the most by a first-year coach in program history.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop, left, averages 19.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He won conference player of the year honors.