The Big Ten Network is kicking off efforts to identify All-Decade teams for both Big Ten basketball and football, and it all got started with a couple of former Ohio State hoopers on the 3rd Team squads on the court.
Both guards Aaron Craft and D’Angelo Russell were selected by a panelist of 24 FOX and BTN personalities. They were chosen among many outstanding Big Ten basketball players that did there work in Big Ten arenas from 2010-2019. Both are Buckeye fan favorites.
Other players on the 3rd Team squad include Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Jajuan Johnson, Jordan Murphy of Minnesota, and Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell. There are six total because of a tie.
We’ll continue to stay on top of all the Ohio State players included in both sports as BTN steps through the announcements, write-ups, and tributes as they are released. The schedule lays out like such for basketball, so continue to stay with us as we follow it.
For now though, here more on Craft and Russell.
Next … Aaron Craft
Aaron Craft (2010-2014)
Craft was unheralded as a freshman, but quickly showed the toughness, grit, and playmaking ability to frustrate opponents and become one of the most feared on-ball defenders the conference has ever seen. He wasn’t a top-end scoring threat, but he could penetrate and hit shots in big moments when called upon. He stayed at Ohio State for four years, and helped the Buckeyes to one Final Four. He was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, but perhaps most impressive, was that Craft won more Big Ten games than any other player during the decade.
You can watch Craft’s tribute video put together by BTN below:
Next … D’Angelo Russell
D’Angelo Russell (2014-15)
While Craft was a staple of the Ohio State program for much of the decade, Russell was in Columbus just one year. But what a year it was. It was clear from the get-go that Russell was an elite offensive threat from his first time on the floor. As a freshman, he averaged just shy of 20 points per game, to go along with 5.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and too many highlights to count.
Here’s the BTN tribute video for Russell:
Congrats to both of these guys that will always be thought of very fondly by Buckeye Nation. To catch the rest of BTN’s All-Decade pieces, you can visit the website directly.
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