The Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the Chicago Tribune to the men's and women's college basketball most valuable players of the Big Ten Conference each season, as voted upon by the league's coaches and officials. The Chicago Tribune awarded the Silver Basketball for men's basketball beginning in 1946 while the women's award was first presented in 1988. It was considered the pre-eminent Big Ten basketball individual award, eventually being superseded by the present-day men's and women's players of the awards as voted upon by the league's coaches and media. The Silver Basketball was discontinued after the 2006–07 season.
A number of men's and women's honorees were also named the national player of the year (NPOY) by one of the major selectors in the same season of this award. On the men's side, nine unique players represented 10 NPOYs, with Ohio State's Jerry Lucas repeating as back-to-back NPOY in 1961 and 1962. On the women's side, two players were also NPOYs: Carol Ann Shudlick (1994) and Stephanie White (1999).
Key * Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: Men – Sporting News; Oscar Robertson Trophy; Associated Press; NABC; UPI; Naismith; Wooden; Adolph Rupp Trophy; Helms FoundationWomen – Wade; Associated Press; Naismith; Wooden Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award at that point
Winners
+ Men Year Player School Class Reference 1945–46 Northwestern 1946–47 Wisconsin 1947–48 Iowa 1948–49 Illinois 1949–50 Wisconsin 1950–51 Illinois 1951–52 Iowa 1952–53 Indiana 1953–54 Illinois 1954–55 Minnesota 1955–56 Ohio State 1956–57 Indiana 1957–58 (2) Indiana 1958–59 Michigan State 1959–60 Ohio State 1960–61 * (2) Ohio State 1961–62 * (3) Ohio State 1962–63 Ohio State 1963–64 * (2) Ohio State 1964–65 Michigan 1965–66 * (2) Michigan 1966–67 Illinois 1967–68 Iowa 1968–69 Purdue 1969–70 (2) Purdue 1970–71 Ohio State 1971–72 Minnesota 1972–73 Indiana 1973–74 Michigan 1974–75 Indiana 1975–76 * (2) Indiana 1976–77 Indiana 1977–78 Minnesota 1978–79 Michigan State 1979–80 Indiana 1980–81 Indiana 1981–82 Ohio State 1982–83 Indiana 1983–84 Purdue 1984–85 Michigan 1985–86 Michigan State 1986–87 Indiana 1987–88 Michigan 1988–89 Michigan 1989–90 Michigan State 1990–91 Ohio State 1991–92 * (2) Ohio State 1992–93 * Indiana 1993–94 * Purdue 1994–95 * Michigan State 1995–96 Indiana 1996–97 Minnesota 1997–98 Michigan State 1998–99 (2) Michigan State 1999–00 Michigan State 2000–01 Illinois 2001–02 Indiana 2002–03 Illinois 2003–04 Wisconsin 2004–05 * Illinois 2005–06 Ohio State 2006–07 Wisconsin + Women Year Player School Class Reference 1945–46 No award 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 Iowa 1988–89 Ohio State 1989–90 Iowa 1990–91 Purdue 1991–92 Purdue 1992–93 Ohio State 1993–94 * Minnesota 1994–95 Purdue 1995–96 Ohio State 1996–97 Purdue 1997–98 Iowa 1998–99 * Purdue 1999–00 Penn State 2000–01 Purdue 2001–02 Minnesota 2002–03 Penn State 2003–04 (2) Penn State 2004–05 Ohio State 2005–06 (2) Ohio State 2006–07 (3) Ohio State Bobby Jackson's selection was later vacated (along with that season's win total and all other accolades) due to an academic fraud scandal that ruled the entire team ineligible.
Winners by school + Men School (year joined) Winners Years Indiana (1899) 14 1953, 1957, 1958, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1993, 1996, 2002 Ohio State (1912) 11 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1982, 1991, 1992, 2006 Michigan State (1950) 8 1959, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000 Illinois (1896) 7 1949, 1951, 1954, 1967, 2001, 2003, 2005 Michigan (1896) 6 1965, 1966, 1974, 1985, 1988, 1989 Minnesota (1896) 4 1955, 1972, 1978, 1997 vacated Purdue (1896) 4 1969, 1970, 1984, 1994 Wisconsin (1896) 4 1947, 1950, 2004, 2007 Iowa (1899) 3 1948, 1952, 1968 Northwestern (1896) 1 1946 Chicago (1896) 0 — Penn State (1990) 0 —+ Women School (year joined) Winners Years Ohio State (1912) 6 1989, 1993, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007 Purdue (1896) 6 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 Iowa (1899) 3 1988, 1990, 1998 Penn State (1990) 3 2000, 2003, 2004 Minnesota (1896) 2 1994, 2002 Illinois (1896) 0 — Indiana (1899) 0 — Michigan (1896) 0 — Michigan State (1950) 0 — Northwestern (1896) 0 — Wisconsin (1896) 0 — Current Big Ten Conference teams not listed in the winners by school charts above is because they joined the conference after 2007 when the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was last awarded.
See also Chicago Tribune Silver Football – equivalent award for Big Ten Conference football Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year – voted upon by the league's coaches and media (1985–present) Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year – voted upon by the league's coaches and media (1983–present)
References