University of Minnesota Athletics
Johnson and Westbrook Receive Accolades
3/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota junior guard Lawrence Westbrook was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by Big Ten coaches and the media today as the Big Ten Conference released the 2008-09 All-Big Ten men’s basketball team.
Also, Gophers’ forward Damian Johnson was named to the All-Defensive Team while senior Jamal Abu-Shamala was recognized by the conference as Minnesota’s Sportsmanship honoree. Monday’s honor was the first for both Minnesota juniors and Abu-Shamala.
Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas was named the conference’s player of the year by Big Ten coaches as well as by the media. Joining Lucas on the All-Big Ten first-team (coaches and media) were Michigan’s Manny Harris, Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Penn State’s Talor Battle and Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson.
Travis Walton of Michigan State nabbed the Defensive Player of the Year award while Ohio State’s William Buford received Freshman of the Year honors from the coaches and the media.
Tom Izzo of Michigan State was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the coaches while Penn State’s Ed DeChellis took home the award as voted by the media.
The eighth-seeded Gophers take on Northwestern, the ninth seed, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday in Indianapolis. The game, which will be aired nationally on the Big Ten Network, is slated for an 11:00 a.m. CT tip with the winner advancing to play the number one seed Michigan State on Friday. That game is also scheduled to tip at 11:00 a.m.
