Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Picked Second In B1G
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Coach Izzo Media Day Press Conference
Wisconsin was the unanimous preseason favorite, while Ohio State was selected third. Badger senior Frank Kaminsky was a unanimous pick to the preseason All-Big Ten Team and the preseason pick for player of the year. Joining Kaminsky on the all-conference team were his teammate Sam Dekker, Indiana's Yogi Ferrell, Nebraska's Terran Petteway and Michigan's Caris LeVert.
Michigan State returns two starters from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, appearing in the tournament for the 17th straight season. Senior Branden Dawson averaged 11.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Had he appeared in one more game, he would have ranked second in the conference in rebounding and first in field-goal percentage. He averaged 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds in seven postseason games, shooting .681 from the field, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament. Fellow senior Travis Trice is a co-captain and after three years coming off the bench is ready to step into a starting role. He ranked third in the Big Ten in overall 3-point field-goal percentage (.434) and second in Big Ten games (.483). In his nine starts last season, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.6 assists with a 5.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Junior Denzel Valentine is a co-captain. He is the only Spartan to appear in every game in 2013-14, and was the only player in the Big Ten to rank in the Top 15 in both rebounding (t-11th) and assists (8th). Junior Matt Costello started 20 of 34 games last season and ranked 10th in the Big Ten in blocks (1.3 bpg).
