Through 17 games, Keita Bates-Diop leads the Big Ten in scoring, has been named the conference player of the week twice this season and has led his team to an upset win over the No. 1 team in the country.
That wasn't enough to land him on the John R. Wooden Award midseason Top 25 list released Thursday afternoon.
Bates-Diop is averaging 20 points per game and is third in the conference in rebounds, pulling down 8.8 boards per contest. His career-high 32 points and seven rebound performance against the Spartans has made him a legitimate contender for Big Ten Player of the Year, in addition to All-American consideration.
| STAT | BIG TEN RANK | NATIONAL RANK |
|---|---|---|
| PPG (20.0) | 1st | 40th |
| RPG (8.8) | 3rd | 54th |
| BPG (1.6) | 8th | T-98th |
The Normal, Ill. native is also leading the conference in defensive rebounds per game, grabbing 7.5, and ranks eighth in the league in blocks, averaging 1.6 rejections per contest.
His exclusion from the Wooden Award list caught the eye of former Buckeye Mark Titus, who wasn't exactly pleased with Bates-Diop's absence.
I'm embarrassed for every person who played a part in putting this list together and didn't notice that Big Ten Player of The Year and First Team All-American Keita Bates-Diop isn't even on it. Get this garbage out of my face and try again. https://t.co/TY08oB2Myv
— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) January 11, 2018
The only Big Ten players to appear on the national list are Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy. Bridges is sixth in the conference in scoring at 16.5 points per game, while Murphy ranks third at 18.3 points.
The last Buckeye to win the Wooden Award was Evan Turner in 2009-10.
