By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
March 7, 2011
The headline awards went elsewhere, but the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes were still very well represented when the 2011 All-Big Ten awards were announced Monday night by the conference office.
Jared Sullinger was a unanimous pick for Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the coaches and media and also earned first team All-Big Ten honors, while classmate Aaron Craft was named the Sixth Man of the Year and to the All-Defensive Team by league coaches.
What's curious is that the Buckeyes won the league but were shut out of the big awards. Purdue's JaJuan Johnson was named Player of the Year and Purdue's Matt Painter was named Coach of the Year. Johnson was also named Defensive Player of the Year.
Sullinger certainly had a strong case as the league's best player, and all Matta did was guide his team to a 29-2 regular season a year after losing the National Player of the Year to the NBA. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Craft and David Lighty, who joined Craft on the All-Defensive Team, also had strong cases for the top defensive award.
In addition to the aforementioned honors, Buckeyes David Lighty and William Buford were named second team All-Big Ten and Jon Diebler garnered third team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and the media.
"We are fortunate to play in a tremendous league with outstanding players," Matta said in a statement. "To have five of our top six players recognized with postseason honors is a tribute to their hard work."
Joining Sullinger and Johnson on the first team were Johnson's teammate, E
