With the official start of the practice in September, A hoop And In the hall Work together to bring you our annual breakdown of the preseason of the top players in the Big Ten for the 13th consecutive season.
The series is divided into seven parts and we will continue with our fifth episode of players 15-11 for the 2025-26 season:
Earlier: 40-31, 30-26, 25-21, 20-15
15. Tucker Devries, Indiana (6-foot-7, Vooruit, Redshirt Senior)
Why he could perform this ranking better: A dual Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in Drake, Devries is now in three seasons at his third school. Prior to the 2024-25 season, he followed his father, Darian Devries, to West Virginia. In March, Darian Devries accepted the Iu -Baan and Tucker, who used a medical red shirt after he appeared in just eight games for the mountain climbers, is now in Bloomington for his last season.
This season, Devries is one of the best returns in college basketball. More than 112 career competitions between Drake and West Virginia, he owns career remedies of 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists while making nearly 2.5 3-Pointers per game.
Although much of the attention was outside the season at IU to the other Portal supplements of the program, Devries is the best and most proven selection for the Hoisiers. He is also a strong passer -by and an excellent free throw shooter.
Why he could find this ranking: Although health was never a problem for Devries at Drake, he had to close it after eight games last season in West Virginia due to a shoulder injury. He was a full participant in IU’s Augustus to Puerto Rico and on average double digits about three exhibitions. He struggled with his shooting on the trip – 22.2 percent at 3 seconds – while he was missing rust from time because of an injury.
There is a high floor with Devries, but he has to prove that the injury is behind him and remains healthy to finish ten teams at the end of the All-Big.
14. Rodney Rice, USC (6-foot-5, guard, junior)
Why he could perform this ranking better: Rice makes the rare coast-to-coast transfer in the same conference from Maryland to USC after a breakout year under Kevin Willard. He was a pleasant surprise for the Terps after two years at Virginia Tech, where he only played eight games in total.
Rice is one of the best shooters in the Big ten. Last year he hit 80 3-Pointers on a clip of 37.4 percent. He was good of the catch, but even better of the dribble with 44.2 percent on pull-up three. He can take movement, in transition, or spotting, and played an integral role in the Sweet Sixteen campaign of Maryland.
The terps were 14 points per 100 assets better when Rice was on the floor, according to CBB analysis, which was the best figure on the Roster. Rice must be a fundamental building block for Eric Musselman at USC on another fully rebuilt selection.
Why he could find this ranking: Rice seemed to play the perfect role for Maryland last year. The Terps leaned on their start five as aggressive as every team in the conference, and Rice played with an excellent Point Guard and big men who demanded double teams in the post. It was the perfect recipe for a shooting specialist.
It feels unlikely that the role of Rice will be just as nicely matched or consistent in Los Angeles. The schedules of Musselman are never short of options, but they are generally a little more based on chaos theory than on line -up consistency. Rice will have to find a comfort zone in a rotation that will probably change several times before Big Ten Play even starts.
13. Chad Baker-Mazara, USC (6-foot-7, wing, graduate senior)
Why he could perform this ranking better: Baker-Mazara, a resident of the Dominican Republic, will be one of the oldest players in college basketball next season. He will be 26 at the end of January. USC is now his fifth stop in college basketball after earlier stints in Duquesne, San Diego State, Northwest Florida State College and Auburn.
Baker-Mazara has an excellent size for a wing and is a disturbing defender who can guard multiple positions when he is completely engaged. His height enables him to dispute shots by smaller guards and he has the power to keep his own defensive against more physical players.
He is a self-assured 3-point shooter-39.8 percent for his career and comes from his best offensive season in Auburn. He on average 12.3 points and shot 88.8 percent of the free sauceput, 50.9 percent on 2S and 38.1 percent on 3S for a last four team.
Why he could find this ranking: Baker-Mazara plays with a lot of emotion and although it can sometimes be a power, it can also be a disadvantage if it is not channeled properly.
He received countless technical errors during his career and was thrown from an NCAA ToureeiPame against Yale in 2024. In one piece last season for Auburn, he had a technical or flagrant error in five of the six games. USC needs Baker-Mazara to be a leader and that means staying on the floor and avoiding regular technical and flagrant errors.
12. Nolan Winter, Wisconsin (6-foot-11, Vooruit, Junior)
Why he could perform this ranking better: Winter is one of the most intriguing breakout candidates in the Big ten. He demonstrated his size, skill and efficiency as second -year students last year. He placed a 132 offensive rating on the use of 19.1 percent. He shot 72 percent in two and 36 percent in three, together with top-15 attacking and defensive rebound rates in the Big ten.
With the graduation of Steven Crowl, Winter also has the opportunity to enter into considerably more responsibilities as a junior and to follow a script that we have seen from Wisconsin Big Men for decades. He becomes the center of the Front Court of Badger, not only a supplementary piece, and he has to play more minutes and take more photos than last season.
Why he could find this ranking: The second production of winter was solid, but not at an all-big ten level. He on average 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per match. If he does not make a statistical jump as a junior, he can easily fail to do this ranking.
He will also have to prove that he can keep physically in against the Big Ten without grooving as an amplifier next to him.
11. Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois (7-foot-1, center, junior)
Why he could perform this ranking better: The 22-year-old Croatian Great Man did not play as a newcomer in the Big last winter.
Ivisic is one of the best shooting big men in the country, because he made 55 3-pointers last season and shot 35.7 percent remotely. He is one of the few Bigs in the competition that needs to be justified everywhere on the floor and his ability to stretch the floor really opens lanes for his illini teammates. He also made 60.5 percent of his 2s last season, which was in the Top 20 in the competition.
He is also a respectable rebounder – he is in the top 25 in the conference in both offensive and defensive rebound percentage – and a capable passer, an average of 2.3 assists per match last season as a second year. On a renewed Illinois schedule, Ivisic is the center of Brad Underwood will build in Champaign.
Why he could find this ranking: Rim Protection is not a strong suit for Ivisic, which blocked only 39 shots throughout the season. He is very limited defensive and although blocked recordings are not the only indicator of a solid defender, the reality is that Ivisic does not offer enough resistance to the edge for its size and athletics.
He will probably also play without an NBA first round concept pick as his point guard. Ivisic and Kasparas Jakucionis had excellent chemistry. The Lithuanian point watch knew how he could find Ivisic and get him the ball where he wanted. Will that remain the case with Ivisic and newcomer Mihailo Petrovic?
(Photocredit: iu athletics)
See more: Comments, 2025-26 Big Ten Preview
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