Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, October 22, 2012

BTN.com's Brent Yarina is in the middle of unveiling his 2012-13 preseason Big Ten Player Rankings one by one. The countdown goes in reverse order, of course, and each installment includes player stats and one video highlight from last season. Once the season starts, Yarina will release a weekly Player Rankings every Monday. Up next: Penn State's Tim Frazier.

Penn State's Tim Frazier
US Presswire

THE COUNTDOWN
No. 10: Jared Berggren, Sr., Wisconsin
No. 9: Branden Dawson, So., Michigan State
No. 8: Keith Appling, Jr., Michigan State
No. 7: Drew Crawford, Sr., Northwestern
No. 6: Aaron Craft, Jr., Ohio State

Frazier's career stats:

Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2009-10 PSU 31 10 18.4 5.0 2.3 2.4 0.7 0.1 1.7 2.1 .386 .375 .672
2010-11 PSU 34 33 30.8 6.3 3.9 5.1 1.0 0.1 2.4 2.6 .430 .344 .753
2011-12 PSU 32 32 37.1 18.8 4.7 6.2 2.4 0.2 3.7 2.9 .419 .314 .791
Career 97 75 28.9 10.0 3.6 4.6 1.4 0.1 2.6 2.5 .416 .331 .760

Why he?s No. 5: The Big Ten's premier stat-stuffer, Frazier can do a little bit of everything. In fact, the Penn State star is above average in just about every facet of the game, save for shooting (41.6 percent in career). But he's working on his shot, including extending his range. That said, Frazier's struggles from the field aren't entirely his fault, considering he spent last season as Penn State's only consistent and feared scoring threat. This is a point guard who scores and distributes with the best in the Big Ten and rebounds better than anyone at his position – his 4.7 rpg led Penn State last year. Oh, and he can defend.

Why he may not live up to ranking: Frazier still doesn't have a reliable No. 2 scorer to help him out on a nightly basis. Jermaine Marshall showed flashes last season and transfer D.J. Newbill may help out, but Frazier needs someone on the roster to become a consistent scorer – think 12 to 14 points per game – so all the pressure isn't on his shoulders.

BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina.