Ethan Happ named Big Ten Player of the Week (again)

If the No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers are to go 2-0 this week at home against N.C. State and on the road in Iowa City, I am gonna go out on a limb and say redshirt senior forward Ethan Happ probably played pretty well.

The Wisconsin AP preseason All-American big man has now claimed the Big Ten Player of the Week award for all three weeks of the season.

Happ is currently leading the country in double-doubles (six in six games, natch), is tied for second in the country in rebounding (12.5 per game) and at 6’10 is mind-bendingly 39th in the country in assists per game (5.7). He obviously leads the team in all of those categories and is the leading scorer (17.8 per game) as well. Needless to say, Happ is having a national player of the year type season.

For those of you interested in an advanced stats look at Happ, KenPom has him as his NPOY currently.

With guards D’Mitrik Trice and Kobe King playing at a high level on offense and sophomore forward Nate Reuvers taking over rim protecting responsibilities on defense, Happ hasn’t had to shoulder the entire load for every aspect of the team. Happ should continue his early season dominance against a stout N.C. State interior defense that blocks a lot of shots since his “old-man pump fake game” is unmatched by actual old men.