Maryland basketball’s Melo Trimble selected to All-Big Ten first team

Maryland guard Melo Trimble was named a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the conference Monday.

Trimble averaged 16.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 31 regular-season contests. His junior year was highlighted by back-to-back performances of 32 and 27 points at Northwestern and Wisconsin. He also had a knack for clutch late-game baskets, most notably Saturday’s game-wining three against Michigan State.

He’s joined on the first team by Minnesota’s Nate Mason, Iowa’s Peter Jok, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan. Trimble and Swanigan were the only two unanimous selections to the team.

Trimble is Maryland’s only representative on any all-conference team. He’s the undeniable star on a young squad, and the program has built several promotional efforts around him. The “Melo Mixtape” now comes in CD form and has its own website.

In his three years in College Park, Trimble has been an all-conference player every season. He was a first-team selection in 2015 and made the second team last year. He’ll face a decision regarding his basketball future after the season, so this may or may not be his final season at Maryland.

After beating Michigan State on Saturday, the Terps finished the regular season 24-7 and earned the No. 3 seed in this week’s conference tournament, which takes place at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. They will take on either No. 6-seed Northwestern, No. 11 Ohio State or No. 14 Rutgers.