Ignas Brazdeikis's top freshman honor leads Michigan's Big Ten awards haul
James Hawkins
After piling up wins throughout the regular season, Michigan racked up the Big Ten awards on Monday.
Ignas Brazdeikis led the haul for the Wolverines by being named Freshman of the Year and earning All-Big Ten second team honors.
Brazdeikis finished the regular season as Michigan’s leading scorer at 15 points per game and ranked second on the team in rebounds (5.3) and 3-point shooting (41.7 percent).
He also scored at least 20 points in 10 contests and wasted little time making his introduction to the college basketball world with a pair of impressive performances against Villanova and North Carolina during the first month of the season.
"I wanted to come in ready to go and do the best I could,” Brazdeikis told the Big Ten Network. “I expected the team to do well this year. I was really focused and ready to do my best. I felt like this year has been great.”
Brazdeikis became the first Michigan player to earn the top freshman recognition since Trey Burke in 2012 and seventh in program history, joining Gary Grant (1985), Chris Webber (1992), Maurice Taylor (1995), LaVell Blanchard (2000) and Daniel Horton (2003).
"That's a tremendous honor," Michigan coach John Beilein said on his radio show. "That is a great freshman class in this league. In a 14-team league where there is — let's say there's three freshmen in every class. So that's 42 freshmen and he's the best one? That says a lot about what he's accomplished.
"There's some really high-profile ones and he wasn't probably heard of as much as some those guys because he's from Canada. But what a great performance all year long."
Like Brazdeikis, junior guard Zavier Simpson was named to the All-Big Ten second team by both the media and coaches. Simpson averaged 9.1 points, 6.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds in a team-high 33.8 minutes during the regular season. He also led the Big Ten in assist-turnover ratio (3.2) and was tied for third in steals per game (1.5).
Simpson, who's considered one of the best defensive point guards in the nation and was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award, was beaten out by Penn State’s Josh Reaves for the conference’s top defensive honor. And despite Michigan's defense ranking among the best in the nation, Simpson was the only Wolverine — and third in program history — to make the all-defensive team.
In addition to Brazdeikis and Simpson, the rest of Michigan's starting lineup also earned recognition. Redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews (media), junior center Jon Teske (media, coaches) and sophomore guard Jordan Poole (media, coaches) all landed honorable mention nods, giving Michigan its most Big Ten honorees since 1984-85.
"Very deserving," Beilein said. "We traditionally have never valued that (awards) very much. They get player of the week, they get rookie of the week we don't even mention it. We're all about the team."
Up next for Michigan (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) is the Big Ten tournament at the United Center in Chicago. The Wolverines will look to become the first conference team to pull off a three-peat when they open play at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals against the winner of Iowa vs. Illinois/Northwestern.
Big Ten Awards
(*unanimous selection)
Coaches
FIRST TEAM
Bruno Fernando, Maryland
Cassius Winston, Michigan State*
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
Carsen Edwards, Purdue*
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM
Romeo Langford, Indiana
Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
THIRD TEAM
Jordan Bohannon, Iowa
Tyler Cook, Iowa
Nick Ward, Michigan State
Amir Coffey, Minnesota
James Palmer Jr., Nebraska
HONORABLE MENTION
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Juwan Morgan, Indiana
Jordan Poole, Michigan
Jon Teske, Michigan
Kenny Goins, Michigan State
Matt McQuaid, Michigan State
Dererk Pardon, Northwestern
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State
Ryan Cline, Purdue
Geo Baker, Rutgers
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Romeo Langford, Indiana
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa
Jalen Smith, Maryland
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Bruno Fernando, Maryland
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
Matt McQuaid, Michigan State
Josh Reaves, Penn State
Nojel Eastern, Purdue
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cassius Winston, Michigan State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Josh Reaves, Penn State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Xavier Tillman, Michigan State
COACH OF THE YEAR: Matt Painter, Purdue
Media
FIRST TEAM
Bruno Fernando, Maryland
Cassius Winston, Michigan State*
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
Carsen Edwards, Purdue*
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM
Tyler Cook, Iowa
Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
THIRD TEAM
Romeo Langford, Indiana
Juwan Morgan, Indiana
Nick Ward, Michigan State
Amir Coffey, Minnesota
James Palmer Jr., Nebraska
HONORABLE MENTION
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Trent Frazier, Illinois
Jordan Bohannon, Iowa
Luka Garza, Iowa
Charles Matthews, Michigan
Jordan Poole, Michigan
Jon Teske, Michigan
Kenny Goins, Michigan State
Matt McQuaid, Michigan State
Vic Law, Northwestern
Dererk Pardon, Northwestern
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State
Josh Reaves, Penn State
Ryan Cline, Purdue
Matt Haarms, Purdue
Geo Baker, Rutgers
Eugene Omoruyi, Rutgers
D’Mitrik Trice, Wisconsin
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cassius Winston, Michigan State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
COACH OF THE YEAR: Matt Painter, Purdue
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @jamesbhawkins