Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Basketball award to best player in Big Ten
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The Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1984–85 season. Only four players have won the award multiple times: Jim Jackson of Ohio State (1991, 1992), Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State (1998, 1999), Luka Garza of Iowa (2020, 2021), and Zach Edey of Purdue (2023, 2024). Ten players who won the Big Ten Player of the Year award were also named the national player of the year by one or more major voting bodies: Jim Jackson (1992), Calbert Cheaney of Indiana (1993), Glenn Robinson of Purdue (1994), Evan Turner of Ohio State (2010), Draymond Green of Michigan State (2012), Trey Burke of Michigan (2013), Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (2015), Denzel Valentine of Michigan State (2016), Luka Garza of Iowa (2021), and Zach Edey of Purdue (2023 and 2024).
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| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Big Ten Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1985 |
| Most recent | Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan |
Michigan State has the record for the most winners with nine. Of current Big Ten Conference members, nine schools have never had a winner. Of these, only Northwestern was in the conference since the inception of this award—Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991, Nebraska joined in 2011, followed by Maryland and Rutgers in 2014, and by Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington in 2024. With Braden Smith winning the 2025 award, the Purdue Boilermakers became the first program to have conference players of the year in three consecutive seasons (2023–2025).
Key
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national player of the year award: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big Ten Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners
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a Bobby Jackson's selection was later vacated (along with that season's win total and all other accolades) due to an academic fraud scandal that ruled the entire team ineligible.[43]
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan State (1953) | 9 | 1986, 1995, 1998, 1999†, 2000†, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2019 |
| Ohio State (1912) | 7 | 1987, 1991, 1992, 1999†, 2006, 2010, 2018 |
| Purdue (1896) | 7 | 1990, 1994, 2011, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Indiana (1900) | 6 | 1989†, 1993, 1996, 2000†, 2002, 2008 |
| Michigan (1896) | 6 | 1985, 1988, 1989†, 2013, 2014, 2026 |
| Wisconsin (1896) | 4 | 2004, 2007, 2015, 2022 |
| Illinois (1896) | 3 | 2001, 2003, 2005 |
| Iowa (1900) | 2 | 2020, 2021 |
| Minnesota (1896) | 0 | |
| Maryland (2014) | 0 | — |
| Nebraska (2011) | 0 | — |
| Northwestern (1896) | 0 | — |
| Oregon (2024) | 0 | — |
| Penn State (1993) | 0 | — |
| Rutgers (2014) | 0 | — |
| UCLA (2024) | 0 | — |
| USC (2024) | 0 | — |
| Washington (2024) | 0 | — |