Blanchard Named Big Ten's Freshman of the Year

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- University of Michigan freshman forward LaVell Blanchard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) was named Monday (March 6) as the Big Ten Conference men's basketball Freshman of Year as selected by the media and shared the same honor with Illinois' Brian Cook as selected by the Big Ten coaches. Blanchard also was tabbed as a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the media.

Blanchard

Blanchard is the fourth Wolverine in history to receive the Freshman of the Year honor. Gary Grant won the first-ever Big Ten award in 1986. Chris Webber (1992) and Maurice Taylor (1995) also received the honor.

Blanchard closed out the regular season having played and started in 26 games, missing the only one due to a knee sprain. He averaged 14.5 points (9th in the Big Ten) and led the team with 8.0 rebounds (4th in the Big Ten). He played 30.4 minutes a game and passed out 1.5 assists a game.

In addition, Blanchard collected nine double-doubles, shot 45.8 percent from the field (6th in the Big Ten) and 37.2 percent on three-pointers and led the team with 81.6 percent accuracy on free throws (3rd in Big Ten). He led the team in rebounding in 19 games this season and 11 in scoring. Blanchard was honored as the co-Big Ten Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 5, sharing the honor with Indiana's A.J. Guyton.

Blanchard and the rest of the Wolverines will tip off the Big Ten Tournament Thursday (March 9) when they play Penn State in the opening first-round game, at 1 p.m. CST at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

2000 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Awards

As Selected by the Coaches

FIRST TEAM (* unanimous)
Morris Peterson, Michigan State*
A.J. Guyton, Indiana
Scoonie Penn, Ohio State
Michael Redd, Ohio State
Jarrett Stephens, Penn State (tie)
Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State (tie)

SECOND TEAM
Brian Cardinal, Purdue
Cory Bradford, Illinois
Kirk Haston, Indiana
Ken Johnson, Ohio State
Joe Crispin, Penn State

THIRD TEAM
Charlie Bell, Michigan State
George Reese, Ohio State
Dean Oliver, Iowa
Mike Robinson, Purdue
Michael Lewis, Indiana

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Morris Peterson, Michigan State

FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR
LaVell Blanchard, Michigan
Brian Cook, Illinois

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ken Johnson, Ohio State

As Selected by the Media

FIRST TEAM (* unanimous)
A.J. Guyton, Indiana*
Morris Peterson, Michigan State
Scoonie Penn, Ohio State
Jarrett Stephens, Penn State
Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State

SECOND TEAM
Michael Redd, Ohio State
Brian Cardinal, Purdue
Kirk Haston, Indiana
Cory Bradford, Illinois
Joe Crispin, Penn State

THIRD TEAM
Ken Johnson, Ohio State
Charlie Bell, Michigan State
George Reese, Ohio State
Mike Robinson, Purdue
LaVell Blanchard, Michigan

HONORABLE MENTION
Michael Lewis, Indiana
Dean Oliver, Iowa

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
A.J. Guyton, Indiana

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
LaVell Blanchard, Michigan

COACH OF THE YEAR
Gene Keady, Purdue

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423

University of Michigan Athletics

Players Mentioned

LaVell Blanchard

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