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Post-NBA deadline: Breaking down the Big Ten

Iowa's Luka Garza
Luka Garza should be the Big Ten's preseason player-of-the-year. (AP)

The NBA draft deadline has finally passed.

The results of the past few months amidst the COVID delays for such decisions suggests the Big Ten should be very, very good again, as two teams In particular benefited profoundly from their stars returning to college.

Here's a quick glance at the league as It stands today at the beginning of August.

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THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE

Illinois: Coming off a breakout season, Illinois gets its two best players back, as guard Ayo Dosunmo and big man Kofi Cockburn passed on the draft and will return for their junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. After coming within a game of sharing the Big Ten title last season, the challenge for the Illini now may be simply in handling expectations.

Iowa: With national player-of-the-year frontrunner Luka Garza back, and guard Jordan Bohannon returning, among other weapons, the Hawkeyes are loaded, and experienced.

But, until Iowa becomes something more than a turnstile on defense, can it really win the sort of games it'll have to to win a Big Ten title or reach a Final Four?

Michigan State: The perennial league favorite finds itself with the biggest shoes to fill of any team in the conference, minus one of the great guards in Big Ten history: Cassius Winston. And, a tremendous Big Ten player in Xavier Tillman. But, Aaron Henry is back and the hope will be he rebounds from a pedestrian sophomore season, and Rocket Watts and Malik Hall are two sophomores who could take significant jumps. Forward Joey Hauser could be a huge addition, as could freshmen A.J. Hoggard and Mady Sissoko. Guard play will be critical post-Winston.

Wisconsin: The Badgers were a better team than the sum of their parts last season, and managed just keep finding ways to win, resulting in a share of the Big Ten title. Wisconsin is largely the same team now, but if last season represented Greg Gard's team over-achieving, the question will be whether or not it's repeatable. Experience does matter, and Wisconsin is teeming with it.

THE BIG MIDDLE

Indiana: This has to be Trayce Jackson-Davis' year, and the possibility certainly exists he has a Jalen Smith sort of sophomore season for the Hoosiers, but this team simply has to improve offensively around him. Talented but streaky Devonte Green is gone, and IU will need perimeter scorers to emerge and for its outside shooting to be markedly better. Forward Race Thompson was very good late in the season, and a healthy Jerome Hunter could be crucial, and with those two players returning, the departed Justin Smith may have been a redundancy anyway. The frontcourt is strong, but the backcourt of Al Durham, Rob Phinisee and blue-chip newcomer Khristian Lander may tell the tale of how good the Hoosiers are in an important season.

Maryland: Talent is never going to be the issue at Maryland, but the Terps just lost a whole bunch of it from last season's co-Big Ten championship squad. Neither senior guard Anthony Cowan nor sophomore big Jalen Smith will be easily replaced. Mark Turgeon has some perimeter talent to work with — Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Aaron Wiggins and fellow returnees Daryll Morsell and Eric Ayala among them — but the frontcourt is a major question.

Michigan: Isaiah Livers should be one of the best players in the Big Ten, and Franz Wagner is a rising star, but Zavier Simpson will be missed at point guard, a position where Michigan is very much in transition. A strong recruiting class comes in, and will make Juwan Howard's roster more talented than it was in Year 1, but also much younger.

Ohio State: With big man Kaleb Wesson staying in the draft, the Buckeyes lost their centerpiece during an off-season in which they were stung by the transfer portal considerably, too. Grad transfer Seth Towns should be an impact player, one of three grad transfers Ohio State welcomes. The Buckeyes will need a big season from senior guard C.J. Walker, among other returnees.

Purdue: The Boilermakers fell off last season following a run of great success, victimized by the ups and downs of an inexperienced backcourt, an apparent void in leadership and just overall consistency issues. Purdue at its best was as good as anyone in the league, but too often Purdue wasn't as good as it needed to be when it needed to be. Now, with more experience in the backcourt, potentially outstanding newcomers and a breakout season from Trevion Williams possibly forthcoming, there are real reasons for optimism. But Purdue has to be more mature, has to play harder and has to show it's learned from last season's turbulence.

Rutgers: It took a pandemic to keep the Scarlet Knights from the NCAA Tournament last season and now, it's again their time, returning largely intact from last season, led by senior Geo Baker and juniors Ron Harper Jr., Myles Johnson, Caleb McConnell and Montez Mathis. Four-star freshman big man Cliff Omoruyi may be gravy. You can make a strong case for Rutgers to be part of the top group here.


ROUNDING OUT THE LEAGUE

Penn State: The Nittany Lions played their way out of this sort of also-ran preseason designation last season, when they fell a game shy of a co-championship and would have been an NCAA Tournament team. Is it sustainable now post-Lamar Stevens? That's the question. Myreon Jones and Myles Dread are potential building blocks, but Penn State will miss last year's senior class.

Minnesota: Talented guard Marcus Carr is back, but center Daniel Oturu's loss is a big one. An immediate eligibility waiver for big man transfer Liam Robbins sure would help. But the ceiling on this team doesn't seem terribly high, and you wonder what another pedestrian season would mean for Richard Pitino.

Northwestern: The Wildcats were 3-17 in the Big Ten last season. Reasons of optimism are modest and progress may be only incremental.

Nebraska: Once again, Nebraska will be a whole new team this season, as Fred Hoiberg will build that program around transfers. Teddy Allen (JUCO), Trey McGowens (Pitt; if eligible right away), Kobe Webster (Eastern Illinois), and Dalano Banton (Western Kentucky) are this year's crop. They're a total wildcard.

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