Eight Big Ten Stars Make Naismith Preseason List

Eight Big Ten men's basketball players were named to the 2011-12 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List, released Monday. The candidates are the same as the ones that made the Wooden Award Watch List, minus Minnesota's Trevor Mbakwe. See all the stars who made the cut for the award handed out annually to the men's player of the year in this post.

Four Big Ten players have won the Naismith Award since its inception in 1969, most recently Ohio State?s Evan Turner (2009-10). Indiana?s Calbert Cheaney (1992-93) and Purdue?s Glenn Robinson (1993-94) won it in back-to-back seasons and Indiana's Scott May was the conference's first recipient (1975-76).

2011-12 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List:
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame, GS, F
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina, So., F
Will Barton, Memphis, So., G
Bradley Beal, Florida, Fr., G
William Buford, Ohio State, Sr., G
Aaron Craft, Ohio State, So., G
Anthony Davis, Kentucky, Fr., F
Marcus Denmon, Missouri, Sr., G
Andre Drummond, Connecticut, Fr., C
Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt, Sr., C
Ashton Gibbs, Pitt, Sr., G
Michael Glover, Iona, Sr., F
Drew Gordon, New Mexico, Sr., F
Draymond Green, Michigan State, Sr., F
JaMychal Green, Alabama, Sr., F
Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan, So., G
Elias Harris, Gonzaga, Jr., F
John Henson, North Carolina, Jr., F
Tu Holloway, Xavier, Sr., G
Robbie Hummel, Purdue, Sr., F
Joe Jackson, Memphis, Jr., G
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt, So., G
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara, Sr., G
Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette, Sr., G
Perry Jones III, Baylor, So., F
Terrence Jones, Kentucky, So., F
Kevin Jones, West Virginia, Sr., F
Kris Joseph, Syracuse, Sr., F
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky, Fr., F
Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut, So., G
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina, So., G
Ray McCallum, Detroit, So., G
Doug McDermott, Creighton, So., F
Khris Middleton, Texas A&M, Jr., F
Quincy Miller, Baylor, Fr., F
Reeves Nelson, UCLA, Jr., F
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure, Sr., F
Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut, Jr., C
Austin Rivers, Duke, Fr., G
Thomas Robinson, Kansas, Jr., F
Terrence Ross, Washington, So., G
John Shurna, Northwestern, Sr., F
Peyton Siva, Louisville, Jr., G
Joshua Smith, UCLA, So., C
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State, So., C
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin, Sr., G
Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt, Sr., G/F
Marquis Teague, Kentucky, Fr., G
Patric Young, Florida, So., F/C
Tyler Zeller, North Carolina, Sr., F

A closer look at the eight candidates:

William Buford, Sr., Ohio State - 14.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 0.8 spg
Aaron Craft, So., Ohio State - 6.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2 spg
Draymond Green, Sr., Michigan State - 12.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 1.1 bpg
Tim Hardaway Jr., So., Michigan - 13.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg
Robbie Hummel, Sr., Purdue - 15.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.0 bpg*
John Shurna, Sr., Northwestern - 48 FG%, 16.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.0 bpg
Jared Sullinger, So., Ohio State - 54 FG%, 17.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1 spg
Jordan Taylor, Sr., Wisconsin - 18.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 0.7 spg

* - Denotes Hummel?s 2009-10 statistics.