Harty: Tough choice between Jarrod Uthoff and Denzel Valentine
IOWA CITY, Iowa – With only five games left in the regular season, the competition for Big Ten Player of the Year in men’s basketball is starting to sort itself out.
Iowa senior forward Jarrod Uthoff certainly helped his cause during Sunday’s 75-71 victory over Minnesota by scoring 24 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking six shots.
The fact that Iowa is alone in first place in the Big Ten heading into Wednesday’s game at Penn State is also helping Uthoff’s individual cause because statistics look better when they’re accompanied by winning.
If the season ended today, it would be hard to give the award to anybody besides the 6-foot-9 Uthoff or Michigan State senior guard Denzel Valentine.
A lot can happen in five games to change perceptions. Especially given the way Valentine is playing right now.
The Spartans, with an 8-5 Big Ten record, have been disappointing as a team by their lofty standards, but to no fault of the 6-5 Valentine. He has been the Big Ten’s ultimate stat sheet stuffer, including on Sunday when he recorded his 14th career double-double with 30 points and 13 assists during an 88-69 victory over Indiana in East Lansing, Mich.
Valentine is averaging 19.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists since returning from a knee injury that caused him to miss four games.
He has a chance to be the first player since the 1995-96 season to average 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for a season.
Uthoff, on the other hand, entered Sunday’s game against Minnesota as the only player from a Power five conference to have at least 440 points, 150 rebounds and 65 blocks this season. The Cedar Rapids native has led Iowa in scoring in 12 games and in rebounding in eight games. He also has scored at least 20 points in 13 games and blocked at least two shots in 18 games and at least four shots in nine games.
You really couldn’t go wrong picking either Uthoff or Valentine as the Big Ten Player of the Year because both players are deserving.
It would’ve been premature to call it a two-player race between Uthoff and Valentine as recently as a week ago.
But not now, not after the way in which Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell and Maryland point guard Melo Trimble have performed over the past week. The Hoosiers defeated Iowa 85-78 last Thursday in Bloomington, Ind., despite Ferrell only making 2-of-12 field-goal attempts.
Trimble missed 13 of 14 shots against Wisconsin this past Saturday as Maryland suffered its first home loss since joining the conference, breaking a 27-game winning streak.
Uthoff and Valentine also have struggled at times, but not for any extended period.
Only once has Uthoff failed to score in double figures this season. He was held to nine points in a loss at Maryland, but had scored 22 points in the previous game and then scored 23 in the game after facing Maryland.
Uthoff has been reluctant to talk about his individual success this season. His only concern is helping No. 4 Iowa win as many games as possible.
Nearly a half century has passed since a Hawkeye was picked as the Big Ten’s most valuable player, with Sam Williams winning the Chicago Tribune Trophy as the Big Ten MVP in 1968.
A strong case could’ve been made for Ronnie Lester in 1979, for Acie Earl in 1993 and for Andre Woolridge in 1997.
Even if he doesn’t win the award, Uthoff has performed at a level that has distinguished him from most Iowa players. That by itself is a worthy accomplishment.