Maryland guard Melo Trimble named Big Ten basketball preseason player of the year

Maryland sophomore guard Melo Trimble has been named the Big Ten's preseason men's basketball player of the year in a media vote, the conference announced Wednesday.

Trimble, a unanimous choice, joins Maryland forward Jake Layman on the all-conference team. A handful of other Terrapins – guard Rasheed Sulaimon and big men Robert Carter and Diamond Stone – figure to be in contention for end-of-year honors if their seasons go as planned.

Ultimately, there's nothing all that meaningful about preseason honors. They're good plaudits, certainly, but they don't count for any baskets once games actually begin. However, this award has had recent predictive value. Last year's preseason player of the year, Frank Kaminsky, went on to win the same award (and the national version) in postseason voting.

As a freshman, Trimble played well enough that it became a question for a few weeks whether he'd return to school or leave for the NBA. Trimble was Maryland's leading scorer and assister last season.