2023-2024 Returning B1G Player Rankings – Honorable Mention

Returning B10 Player Rankings - Honorable Mention

September 27, 2023

This image is the property of Rich Janzaruk – Herald Times – USA TODAY NETWORK

Over the course of the next week or two, we will be posting our 2023-2024 Returning B1G Player Rankings over 5 releases. This is the first release and will cover players ranked in our honorable mention section. Our second release will cover players ranked from 25^th – 20^th, third 19^th – 15^th, fourth 15^th – 11^th, and our final release will cover the top ten ranked players in the Big Ten.

These rankings are based on prior season statistics, as well as projected opportunity for this upcoming season. There are several immediate impact freshmen – such as Mackenzie Mbako, Xavier Booker, Deshawn Harris Smith, and Gavin Griffiths among others – who will certainly have a chance to crack the top 25 player threshold throughout the year. However, for this exercise we did not include incoming freshmen. The talented newcomers will get their own article in the coming weeks.

Honorable Mentions

(In no particular order)

Malik Reneau Indiana

So. - F - 6'9" 233lbs

Last Year: 6.1ppg 3.7rpg 55.3% FG

Reneau had a solid freshmen season with the opportunities he was provided (14.9mpg) playing behind Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. With those two Hoosier fixtures gone, Reneau should be featured heavily in the post alongside fellow sophomore Kel’el Ware. How the two fit together will be interesting to see, as neither is a proven collegiate 3pt shooter. On the other hand, neither Jackson-Davis nor Thompson (27.9% 3pt) were great outside threats, so Mike Woodson has shown a knack for making it work.

Woodson also added Ball State big man Payton Sparks, and 5-star freshman Mackenzie Mbako who could play some 4 at 6’8. With all these frontcourt additions, it will be interesting to see how the minutes shake out for the Hoosiers. Regardless, look for Reneau’s production to go up quite a bit with increased playing time and usage.

Patrick McCaffery Iowa

RS Sr. - F - 6'9" 212lbs

Last Year: 9.8ppg 3.5rpg 34.3% 3pt

McCaffery will have a huge opportunity ahead of him this season. For the first time in 2 seasons, he won’t have an NBA wing slotted ahead of him on the depth chart. Can Pat step in and grab a portion of the abandoned production annually reserved for a Murray twin?

Fran McCaffery’s offense has consistently produced great seasons from wings – including the Murrays, Joe Wieskamp, Peter Jok, and Jarrod Uthoff among others. Patrick will have the chance to take on some of the same production within Iowa’s notoriously high-powered offense. Someone from Iowa will need to step up with Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca no longer in Iowa City, and McCaffery seems like a viable candidate.

Jamison Battle Ohio State

5th Yr Sr. - F - 6'7" 220lbs

Last Year: 12.2ppg 3.8rpg 31.1% 3pt

Battle could probably be placed in the top 25 easily, but last year was a bit concerning. In 2021-2022, Battle averaged 17.5ppg on shooting splits of 45% (FG) and 36.6% (3pt). Last year he regressed in basically all statistical categories (37.1% FG and 31.1% 3pt) on a bad Minnesota team. Some of the regression can probably be attributed to Dawson Garcia’s arrival in Minneapolis. Garcia took on the high usage role for the Gophers, as well as taking some of Battle’s opportunity to play as a stretch 4 man. Battle was also a little banged up after preseason foot surgery, and lingering back pain throughout the year.

Will his arrival in Columbus offer a fresh start (health and playing-wise) at becoming the player he was in his first year at Minnesota? He has yet to play on a good power conference basketball team, and this Ohio State team needs a veteran scorer. If Battle meshes well within Chris Holtmann’s scheme, he could easily skyrocket into the top 25 of the updated versions of these rankings.

Chucky Hepburn Wisconsin

Jr. - G - 6'2" 195lbs

Last Year: 12.2ppg 2.8apg 40.5% 3pt

It seems like you could put Wisconsin’s entire starting lineup in this range – however we’ve went with their point guard. Last year, Hepburn was tagged as one of the sophomores who could take a leap. The season never quite unfolded that way, though Hepburn still did take moderate strides in some areas of his production. He increased his points per game (4.3ppg) and 3pt shooting (5.7%) but didn’t take a sizeable leap as a playmaker (2.3apg and 1.2tov/g to 2.8apg and 1.5tov/g). His FG% inside the arc was also a rough 35.7%.

Hepburn will look to continue to improve this upcoming season. The Badgers added a dynamic option to their offense via St John’s transfer AJ Storr. That addition, along with the retention of almost everyone else (Connor Essegian, Tyler Wahl, Steven Crowl, and Max Klesmit), could result in Chucky having to take fewer tough shots and focusing on managing this talented team as a floor general.

Donta Scott Maryland

5th Yr Sr. - F - 6'8" 230lbs

Last Year: 11.3ppg 6rpg 30.8% 3pt

Donta Scott is an overall solid veteran B1G 4 man. While he hasn’t evolved (production wise) much since his sophomore year, he is still a key cog in the Terrapin’s system. He can be a matchup problem at his position due to his versatility and strength. At 6’7 230 pounds, he has the bulk to battle down low on both sides of the ball and has shown flashes of his outside potential.

His sophomore year he shot 43.8% from 3, but that percentage has declined the past two seasons to hover around 30%. His FG% inside the arc has also steadily dropped over the last two years (55.2% to 51.7% to 44.2%). If Scott can get back to his sophomore year shooting numbers as a 5^th year senior, he could add another level to Kevin Willard’s offense which already figures to feature Jahmir Young, Julian Reese in the post, and freshmen Deshawn Harris Smith and Jamie Kaiser.

Dain Dainja Illinois

RS Jr. - F - 6'9" 270lbs

Last Year: 9.5ppg 5.5rpg 63.6% FG

An honorary member of the All B1G Name Team, Dain Dainja had a solid first year with Illinois in what was essentially his freshman year of college basketball. Illinois is in an interesting scenario where they have two good big men, who are drastically different in play style with Coleman Hawkins (6’10 225lbs mobile facilitating big man) and Dainja (6’9 270lbs bruising center). This allows the team to play different lineups based on matchups – and can also occasionally limit Dainja’s playing time – as evidenced by his 20.5 minutes per game last season.

Despite playing a supporting cast role (minutes-wise), Dainja still managed to put up decent numbers on good efficiency (63.6% FG). He will need to improve his free throw shooting (52.5%) and ball screen defense this upcoming season – both of which he showed occasional flashes of promise on last season. It isn’t unreasonable to think that Dainja can make a jump considering he’s played one full college basketball season – which could lead to more minutes and subsequently production.

Agree with these rankings or have anything you would change up? Leave us a comment down below or Tweet at us. Also, make sure to keep your eyes out for our upcoming article in this series which will feature the #25-21 rankings.

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