Big Ten men’s basketball preseason poll: Rutgers in familiar spot, Cliff

There are two familiar things the Big Ten press corps expects to see from Rutgers this fall: A middle-of-the-pack finish in the standings and an elite individual season from its brightest star.

For the second consecutive season, the Scarlet Knights were predicted to finish eighth in the conference in the unofficial league poll organized by The Athletic and The Columbus Dispatch, which featured a panel of 28 voters who report on the league’s 14 members (NJ Advance Media received a ballot).

The 2022-23 preseason poll, released Monday ahead of Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday and Wednesday in Indianapolis, also includes an historic projection for Rutgers star center Cliff Omoruyi.

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The junior was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection in the poll, the first time a Scarlet Knight has gotten the nod since the school joined the league ahead of the 2014-15 season. Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker, who both completed their college careers last winter, received votes in the 2021 and 2020 editions of the poll, respectively, but did not earn a selection.

Omoruyi was also named to the 11-player preseason All-Big Ten team in the league’s official poll, which was released last week (NJ Advance Media also had a vote). He becomes the third Scarlet Knight to receive that honor after Harper (2021) and Baker (2020) did so. Unlike the unofficial poll from The Athletic/The Dispatch, the league’s official poll does not include a standings projection.

Here are the results from the unofficial preseason poll run by The Athletic/Columbus Dispatch, followed by how NJ Advance Media voted:

(first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Indiana, 377 (19)

2. Illinois, 339 (6)

3. Michigan, 328 (1)

4. Michigan State, 281

5. Purdue, 279 (1)

6. Ohio State, 253

7. Iowa, 235 (1)

8. Rutgers, 202

9. Wisconsin, 191

10. Maryland, 153

11. Penn State, 118

12. Minnesota, 86

13. Northwestern, 56

14. Nebraska, 42

Preseason First-Team All-Big Ten (unanimous selections in bold):

Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (56 votes)

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (56)

Zach Edey, Purdue (52)

Kris Murray, Iowa (49)

Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers (30)

Preseason Second Team All-Big Ten:

Terrance Shannon Jr., Illinois, 29

Jamison Battle, Minnesota, 24

Xavier Johnson, Indiana, 20

Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin, 15

Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin, 14

Also receiving votes: Malik Hall, Michigan State (13); Jalen Pickett, Penn State (11); Matthew Mayer, Illinois (9); Justice Sueing, Ohio State (9); Donta Scott, Maryland (8); Caleb McConnell, Rutgers (5); Patrick McCaffery, Iowa (3); AJ Hoggard, Michigan State (2); Zed Key, Ohio State (2) Jaelin Llewellyn, Michigan (2); Paul Mulcahy, Rutgers (2); Race Thompson, Indiana (2); Jahmir Young, Maryland (2); Boo Buie, Northwestern (1); Dawson Garcia, Minnesota (1); Coleman Hawkins, Illinois (1); RJ Melendez, Illinois (1); Tyson Walker, Michigan State (1).

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