Ohio State earn honors in Big Ten women’s basketball preseason rankings, All-Conference teams

Oct 5, 2022 - 5:11 PM

Last Wednesday, the Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball team began their fall practice schedule. Today, one week later, the Scarlet & Gray learned where the coaches and media thought they’d land this year with the release of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball preseason rankings and Preseason All-B1G Team.

Ohio State landed in the top five, but in slightly different positions. For the coaches, the reigning Big Ten regular season co-champs came in at number two, behind the team who shared the title, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa stayed at number one according to the voting members of the media, but the Buckeyes fell a spot to third. It was the Indiana Hoosiers who jumped head coach Kevin McGuff’s side, with a lot of the media attention for Big Ten women’s basketball focusing on a final regular season day of the conference schedule when the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers tipoff.

Being behind Indiana is warranted for Ohio State. After all, they did lose handily to the Hoosiers 86-66 on Dec. 12, 2021. In the postseason, the Scarlet and Gray also lost to Indiana 70-62 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.

Player-wise, the easiest pick of the conference was Preseason Player of the Year. That went to Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark, who was a Naismith Player of the Year award finalist last season, losing to National Champion Aaliyah Boston from the South Carolina Gamecocks.

There was also consensus between coaches and media for the Preseason All-B1G Team. The same group of 10 players made both teams, with the only differences coming in who was chosen as consensus. In that group of 10 are two Buckeyes — guards Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell.

The rest of the group included Clark, an Indiana duo of guard Grace Berger and forward Mackenzie Holmes, plus Clark’s Iowa teammate Monika Czinano. Within the 10 names are six who made 21/22 All-Big Ten First Team selections. See below for the full list of preseason honorees.

On the coach’s side, Sheldon, Mikesell, Clark, Berger, and Czinano all received consensus selection. On the media’s side though, they were a little stingier with their picks. Only Clark and Sheldon were selected by everyone in the voting media group, putting Sheldon and Clark as the only two Big Ten players consensus by coaches and media overall.

Preseason awards are great for setting a bar for the upcoming season. For the players on it, there’s confirmation of the work put into practice and games. For the players off it, added motivation to prove to coaches and media that they belong in the conversation for the best players in the conference.

In terms of the Buckeyes team, the preseason rankings don’t mean a whole lot. After all, they entered last season in fifth place, which felt like a high placement considering who transferred out in years past and their first season back in playoff eligibility.

Next up for preseason analysis is the AP Polling. Last season, Ohio State started the year at No. 17. It makes sense that this season’s number will start a bit higher.

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2022-23 Coaches Big Ten preseason Rankings

1. Iowa
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Maryland
5. Michigan

2022-23 Coaches Preseason All-Big Ten Team

GRACE BERGER, Grad., G, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Sr., F, Indiana
CAITLIN CLARK, Jr., G, Iowa
MONIKA CZINANO, 5^th-Yr., F/C, Iowa
Diamond Miller, Sr., G, Maryland
Leigha Brown, 5^th-Yr., G, Michigan
Alexis Markowski, So., C/F, Nebraska
TAYLOR MIKESELL, Sr., G, Ohio State
JACY SHELDON, Sr., G, Ohio State
Makenna Marisa, Sr., G, Penn State

Unanimous denoted with all caps

2022-23 Coaches Big Ten Preseason Player Of The Year

Caitlin Clark, Jr., G, Iowa

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2022-23 Media Big Ten Preseason Rankings

1. Iowa
2. Indiana
3. Ohio State
4. Maryland
5. Nebraska

2022-23 Media Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Grace Berger, Grad., G, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Sr., F, Indiana
CAITLIN CLARK, Jr., G, Iowa
Monika Czinano, 5^th-Yr., F/C, Iowa
Diamond Miller, Sr., G, Maryland
Leigha Brown, 5^th-Yr., G, Michigan
Alexis Markowski, So., C/F, Nebraska
Taylor Mikesell, Sr., G, Ohio State
JACY SHELDON, Sr., G, Ohio State
Makenna Marisa, Sr., G, Penn State

Unanimous denoted with all caps

2022-23 Media Big Ten Preseason Player Of The Year

Caitlin Clark, Jr., G, Iowa