Purdue's JaJuan Johnson was voted Big Ten Player of the Year on Monday and the Boilermakers' Matt Painter was honored as Coach of the Year after their team finished second in the Big Ten despite losing star Robbie Hummel to injury.
The 6-foot-10 Johnson, who led the Big Ten in scoring (20.5) and blocked shots, was a unanimous all-conference choice and joined on the first team by Purdue's E'Twaun Moore, Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor and Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger. Those four were chosen in balloting by both media and coaches.
Rounding out the coaches team was Wisconsin's Jon Leuer while Penn State's Talor Battle got the nod on the media's first team.
Johnson was conference defensive player of the year by coaches, Sullinger was picked as freshman of the year and the Buckeyes Aaron Craft tabbed as the league's best sixth man.
It marks the first time a player has won both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year since Illinois' Dee Brown did it in 2005.
Hummel was lost in preseason practice to a knee injury, but Purdue still finished 25-6, including 14-4 in the Big Ten to be runner-up in the regular season to the Buckeyes (29-2, 16-2). The Big Ten tournament starts Thursday in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot-9, 280-pound Sullinger made an immediate impact for the Buckeyes, averaging 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds during Ohio State's dominant season.
Painter was coach of the year for a second straight seasons. In his sixth year at Purdue, he's lead the Boilermakers to at least 20 wins for five straight seasons.
The media's second team included Leuer, Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, Trevor Mbakwe of Minnesota and William Buford and David Lighty of Ohio State.
On the coaches' second unit were Lucas, Mbakwe, Buford, Lighty and Battle.
The media's third team consisted of Illinois' Demetri McCamey, Michigan's Darius Morris, Michigan State's Draymond Green, Northwestern's Michael Thompson and Ohio State's Jon Diebler.
The coaches third team included McCamey, Morris, Green, Thompson, Diebler and John Shurna of Northwestern.
