First in Ten

Ohio State's Matta, Wisconsin's Tucker are our choices for Big Ten accolades

Don't you believe them.

College coaching is about giving yourself the chance through recruiting and making the most of it through the traditional definition of coaching.

No question, Matta brought in a great freshman class. But he also translated that talent on the court, even absorbing the late arrival of center Greg Oden, who missed the early part of the season with a broken right wrist. That's not easy to do with freshmen, no matter how good they are.

That makes Matta an easy choice for the Sun-Times' Big Ten coach of the year.

And if the rest of the league doesn't answer the challenge, he'll end up as coach of the decade. Even if Oden, as many expect, turns pro, the Buckeyes' cupboard is well-stocked. And Matta seems poised to keep bringing in the groceries and cooking them up.

As for player of the year, Wisconsin forward Alando Tucker also is an obvious choice.

Buckeyes freshmen Oden and Michael Conley Jr., who join Tucker on our All-Big Ten first team, might alter a game in specific areas in a bigger way. Oden has a chance to become the best defensive player since Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell. Conley already is a standout point guard who will be appreciated more when he's out of Oden's shadow.

And it's hard to calculate the importance of our other first-teamers, Drew Neitzel and Adam Haluska, to their teams. Without Neitzel, Michigan State might have finished in State College. Without Haluska, Iowa might not have finished.

But Tucker is an all-around force who is deserving of his status as a candidate for All-America teams and national player of the year. The 6-6 small forward, who played power forward as a freshman and is projected as a shooting guard in the NBA, has all-around skills.

He's a shooter and a defender, a leaper and a leader. He has elevated Wisconsin from a hard-nosed Big Ten team to a top-10 team.

The toughest player to leave off the first team was Purdue's Carl Landry, who had an excellent season helping Matt Painter restore the Boilermakers as a competitive force.

With NCAA tournament bids coming out soon and the validation of March Madness to follow, the discussions about whether the Big Ten was up or down are sure to heat up.

The feeling here is that it was more down than up. That's not so much a criticism as a belief that the Big Ten is a league of such vast potential.

By the end of the season, most teams in the conference were running their stuff well. The Big Ten just seems to have less skill this season than other power conferences. Those 58-52 games can be hard to watch.

Ohio State and Wisconsin have had great seasons, but they might have been bolstered by the inability of their middling Big Ten rivals to accomplish much against them.

A healthy Illinois, a more seasoned Michigan State and an Indiana with a little more time under Kelvin Sampson all might have been tougher outs. And while Purdue seems to be on the way back, Iowa and Michigan continue to underachieve.

One big plus for the Big Ten is the number of freshmen and sophomores who played big roles this season. NBA-bound freshmen are in the spotlight around the nation. But the Big Ten also has a good group that will remain in college, including Conley, Iowa's Tyler Smith and Michigan State's Raymar Morgan.

In other words, even if Oden opts to say, ''Goodbye, Columbus,'' the Buckeyes should be in the hunt for another title.

If we had to pick five Big Ten freshmen, we'd go with Ohio State's Greg Oden and Michael Conley Jr., Iowa's Tyler Smith, Michigan State's Raymar Morgan and Northwestern's Kevin Coble. But why limit yourself? There's a whole batch of freshmen who showed signs this season they'll just keep getting better. They include another pair from Ohio State, Daequon Cook and David Lighty; two from Indiana, Armon Bassett and Joey Shaw; NU's Jeff Ryan; Purdue's Chris Kramer; Michigan's Ekpe Udoh; and Wisconsin's Jason Bohannon. Grading the conference coaches:

Thad Matta, Ohio State -- A: Molded talented freshmen into champions

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin -- A-: Had better talent and got most out of it

Bruce Weber, Illinois -- B+: Dealt a tough hand and played it well

Kelvin Sampson, Indiana -- B+: Off to a promising start in a pressure job

Tom Izzo, Michigan State -- B: Coaxed strong finish out of young squad

Jim Molinari, Minnesota -- B: Excellent interim job at struggling program

Matt Painter, Purdue -- B: Showed signs he will get Boilers going

Steve Alford, Iowa -- C: Still not accomplishing what he was hired to do

Tommy Amaker, Michigan -- C: Another season that could have been more

Bill Carmody, Northwestern -- C: Talent base wasn't competitive -- again

Ed DeChellis, Penn State -- D: Hopes for more success didn't materialize