The Associated Press

A.

Tuesday, March 07, 2000

A.J. Guyton of Indiana and Morris Peterson of Michigan State were named Big Ten men’s basketball players of the year today. Purdue’s Gene Keady was selected the conference coach of the year.

Guyton was the only unanimous selection named to the media’s All-Big Ten first team, and Peterson was a unanimous pick by the league’s coaches.

Joining Guyton on the media first-team were Scoonie Penn of Ohio State, Peterson, Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State and Jarrett Stephens of Penn State. The coaches picked Michael Redd of Ohio State, Guyton, Penn, Cleaves and Stephens.

Ohio State senior Ken Johnson, who set the Big Ten records for blocks per game (5.63) and in a single season (90), was named Big Ten defensive player of the year by the coaches.

Indiana’s Kirk Haston and Purdue’s Brian Cardinal were second-team selections by the media, along with Redd, Cory Bradford of Illinois and Joe Crispin of Penn State. Purdue’s Mike Robinson was a third-team selection, and Indiana’s Michael Lewis received honorable mention.

The Big Ten coaches also named Haston and Cardinal to the second team and Robinson and Lewis to the third team.

This is the second straight year and only the third time that co-Big Ten players have been selected by the Big Ten coaches and media.

Peterson led Michigan State to a share of its third-straight regular-season title and ninth conference championship. Guyton won the Big Ten scoring title at 20.6 points a game.

Illinois’ Brian Cook and Michigan’s LaVell Blanchard were named conference freshmen of the year by the coaches, and Blanchard alone was selected for this honor by the media.

For the seventh time in his career, Keady was recognized as the Big Ten coach of the year. Keady led the Boilermakers to a 21-8 overall record, a 12-4 Conference mark and third seed in the Big Ten tournament.