Nik Stauskus and Trey Burke were the Big Ten players of the year and huge disappointments in the NBA. The list of Big Ten players of the year has a lot of NBA busts. What accounts for a player being so exceptional in college and so marginal in the NBA? I’m also curious about who ended up being the best NBA prospect from each of those Big Ten classes.
| Year | Player(s) | School(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Roy Tarpley | Michigan |
| 1986 | Scott Skiles | Michigan State |
| 1987 | Dennis Hopson | Ohio State |
| 1988 | Gary Grant | Michigan (2) |
| 1989 | Jay Edwards | Indiana |
| Glen Rice | Michigan (3) | |
| 1990 | Steve Scheffler | Purdue |
| 1991 | Jim Jackson | Ohio State (2) |
| 1992 | Jim Jackson (2) | Ohio State (3) |
| 1993 | Calbert Cheaney | Indiana (2) |
| 1994 | Glenn Robinson | Purdue (2) |
| 1995 | Shawn Respert | Michigan State(2) |
| 1996 | Brian Evans | Indiana (3) |
| *1997 ** | *Bobby Jackson ** | *Minnesota ** |
| 1998 | Mateen Cleaves | Michigan State(3) |
| 1999 | Mateen Cleaves (2) | Michigan State(4) |
| Scoonie Penn | Ohio State (4) | |
| 2000 | A. J. Guyton | Indiana (4) |
| Morris Peterson | Michigan State(5) | |
| 2001 | Frank Williams | Illinois |
| 2002 | Jared Jeffries | Indiana (5) |
| 2003 | Brian Cook | Illinois (2) |
| 2004 | Devin Harris | Wisconsin |
| 2005 | Dee Brown | Illinois (3) |
| 2006 | Terence Dials | Ohio State (5) |
| 2007 | Alando Tucker | Wisconsin (2) |
| 2008 | D. J. White | Indiana (6) |
| 2009 | Kalin Lucas | Michigan State(6) |
| 2010 | Evan Turner | Ohio State (6) |
| 2011 | JaJuan Johnson | Purdue (3) |
| 2012 | Draymond Green | Michigan State(7) |
| 2013 | Trey Burke | Michigan (4) |
| 2014 | Nik Stauskas | Michigan (5) |
| 2015 | Frank Kaminsky | Wisconsin (3) |
| 2016 | Denzel Valentine | Michigan State(8) |
| 2017 | Caleb Swanigan | Purdue (4) |
| 2018 | Keita Bates-Diop | Ohio State (7) |
| 2019 | Cassius Winston | Michigan State(9) |
| 2020 | Luka Garza | Iowa |
| 2021 | Luka Garza (2) | Iowa (2) |
| 2022 |