McCarville is Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year

Minnesota’s Janel McCarville was tabbed in both polls as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year. The Gophers’ lone senior was named to the 2004 NCAA All-Final Four team and returns as the League’s third-leading scorer (16.1 ppg) and the top rebounder (10.8 rpg). McCarville, who is a Wade Trophy National Player of the Year Candidate and Preseason Wooden Award All-American, is also second among returning players in the Conference in blocked shots (1.9 bpg) and field goal percentage (.616).

Penn State’s Tanisha Wright earns her second consecutive Preseason All-Big Ten honor as the senior guard joins Janel McCarville, Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport and Purdue’s Katie Gearlds as the only players to be named to both the coaches and media Preseason All-Big Ten team. Wright, who averaged 14.8 points per contest last season, is a Wade Trophy Candidate and Preseason Wooden Award All-American as well as the two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. She is the only player to ever win the Conference award twice.

Gearlds and Davenport shared Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors last season as Gearlds was tabbed by the coaches and Davenport was a media selection. Davenport set the Ohio State record for blocks in a season with 80 rejections and was the team's second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.7 rpg). She was also the league's best shooter with a .625 (150-of-240) average from the field during her freshman season. Gearlds, a Preseason Wooden Award All-American this season, averaged 10.6 points as a reserve in 2003-04.

Michigan State’s Lindsay Bowen and Indiana’s Jenny Demuth were also named to Preseason All-Big Ten squads as Bowen was tabbed by the coaches and DeMuth was a media selection. DeMuth was the only Big Ten player to rank in the top five in the Conference in both scoring (18.3, 5th) and rebounding (7.7, 5th) last season. A Second Team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches in 2003-04, Bowen averaged 13.5 points per outing and ranked third in the league with a .865 free-throw percentage and an average of 2.13 three-point field goals made per game.