By Mel Greenberg
We were not on the scene in Chicago, Sunday, for Big Ten media day, but that doesn't mean we can't deliver the news streaming out of the Windy City.
"It seemed like a room full of strangers," our good friend and colleague Steve Tucker of the Chicago Sun noted to us.
And no wonder.
Over half the 12 teams are under coaches either making their debut or beginning their second season.
The rookies are Illinois' Jolette Law, the former longtime Rutgers associate head coach to C. Vivian Stringer who replaced the retired Theresa Grentz, Penn State's Coquese Washington, the former associate head coach to Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw who replaced the departed Rene Portland, Michigan State's Suzy Merchant, the former Eastern Michigan head coach who replaced Joanne P. McCallie, who took a similar job at Duke, and Michigan's Kevin Borseth, who had enjoyed success as head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay and replaces the departed Cheryl Burnett.
Additionally, Indiana's Felisha Legett-Jack, formerly head coach at Hofstra, and Purdue's Sharon Versyp, formerly head coach at Indiana, begin their second seasons.
Some things are still the same at a conference that sank to a low of only three representatives at last season's NCAA tournament.
Jim Foster is still at Ohio State, where the Buckeyes are both the media and coaches favorite in separare preseason polls, to repeat as conference champions.
Law's recruiting reputation at Rutgers, a legacy which could see the Scarlet Knights landing the top class in the country this season, gained her the most pressure of the Big Ten coaching rookies from among her colleagues.
The Illini were picked third behind Wisconsin, although the media decided to be more conservative in tabbing Law's group sixth in the preseason vote.
The rest of the coaches' ranking after Illinois were Michigan State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State, Indiana, Michigian and Northwestern.
Both groups agreed on the final three spots. The media list above that, after Ohio State, has Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa, Illinois, Penn State, Minnesota, and the other three teams mentioned two paragraphs above.
Both groups named Wisconsin senior guard Jolene Anderson preseason conference player of the year. Joining her on the all-conference preseason squads, both groups placed Illinois junior guard Lori Bjork, Michigan State sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan, whom Tucker said drew the most attention among players at the interview tables, and Ohio State senior guard Marscilla Parker. The coaches rounded out their choices with Minnesota junior guard Emily Fox, while the media added Ohio State junior forward Star Allen.
-- Mel
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