After being a relative position of strength for the last half decade, with quite a few NBA draft picks coming out of the conference at the forward spots, this season’s group of wings and forwards feels split between stable veterans and athletic, talented underclassmen. On paper there doesn't seem to be much separation among the power forward vets, and the youth will all have varying role opportunities that are likely to come with semi-unpredictable results.

In part one of this series, the guard list, outside of the last couple of spots, it felt relatively easy to compile, but I had more difficulty trying to separate this positional grouping and leaned more towards taking a chance on the upside, given what we know about the floor/ceiling expectations of some of the vets. While the guard group should see 5-6 players on the first or second All Big Ten team, there doesn’t appear to be a player from this positional group likely to land anywhere in the top seven or so guys in the conference for 2023-24, unless someone really surprises.

Let's get into it.

Originally thought to be more likely to begin his professional career overseas, Olivier Nkamhoua’s decision to transfer to Michigan can’t be understated. A fifth-year guy with over 112 SEC games under his belt, Nkamhoua is a two-way anchor that could end up being the difference between Michigan missing or making the tourney this year. The second leading scorer for a Tennessee roster that finished 64th on offense, but first overall in the country on defense [KP], Olivier flashed his complete upside in last year’s RD32 matchup against Duke where he manhandled the Duke frontcourt to the tune of 27 points on 10/13 from the field and 7/9 FT line.

He’s in line for 30+ minutes next year on Michigan's roster, and will likely end up as a featured offensive option beside Dug McDaniel in Howard’s system. I would expect a reasonable jump in production (12-14 PPG) given his projected role and would not be surprised if he finds himself on an All-Defensive Team in conference play given his strength and overall versatility on that end of the floor. Of all the transfer players entering the conference this season, Nkamhoua has the highest floor for a roster that desperately needed it.

Despite fighting a foot injury early in the season for the Spartans, Jaden Akins bounced back and took significant strides towards becoming a consistent offensive threat to close the year. Over his last 16 games, he averaged 11.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.3 SPG while shooting 45.2% from the floor and 43.7% from deep, and closed even stronger, averaging 13.4 PPG while shooting 50% from deep on 4.9 3FGA per game over his last seven, including the tournament. Arguably the best “three and D'' player heading into the conference this season, Akins has more in the bag to show and should see an uptick in both usage (and offensive role) with Joey Hauser’s 10 FGA departing the roster.

One of the more versatile two-way weapons in the Big Ten, Akins is poised for another leap forward (13-15 PPG), and should compete with his backcourt mates on a nightly basis to lead MSU’s scoring column for a team with dreams of Phoenix, the site of the 2024 Final Four.

I’m fully buying in on the hype beginning to mount around freshman top 50 forward Gavin Griffiths. With the departures of Caleb McConnell and the gut wrenching loss of Cam Spencer as a grad transfer to Uconn late in the cycle, Griffiths will step into an immediate large role for Rutgers and - both in the short and long term - that projects as a very good thing for the Scarlet Knights.

A lanky, reasonably bouncy athlete with both long range shooting capabilities and rim finishing prowess, Griffiths long term projection also has eventual creation upside off the bounce as he adds more weight to his frame. He showed well in Rutgers first game abroad scoring 17 points, hitting three triples, while snagging five boards and dishing three assists in a win against Senegal Select. He then followed that up with 20 points on 7/14 from the field and 5/10 from deep in his second game in Portugal.

It’s pretty clear he’s been given the early green light under Steve Pikiell and with his positional versatility allowing him to play either forward spot - and perhaps even spot minutes at the 2 - Rutgers seems likely to unleash him 28-30+ minutes next season. There may not be a freshman in the conference who gets a larger opportunity to make an immediate impact for their respective roster outside of Deshawn Harris-Smith at Maryland and depending on his offseason development and usage throughout the year, Griffiths has Big Ten FOY upside.

Say what you want about the defense, but Iowa has found a way to build a top five offense four years running in one of the most physical, defensive minded conferences in the country. Following a glut of high level talent - going from Luka Garza to Keegan Murray to his brother Kris Murray - it appears that Iowa has run out of All-American type talent, but the show must go on. Perhaps it's more top 15 good than top five this year, but if you’re picking a guy with breakout potential in Iowa’s offensive system, I lean Payton Sandfort.

Doubling his PPG as a sophomore, Sandfort scored 16+ points eight times last year, including six games of 20+ points. He’s had some strong early performances this summer, and the Iowa engine as a whole has continued to take and make a high volume of three pointers on their tour abroad. We know that Iowa is going to find a way to produce a 15 PPG+ scorer this season, and Sandfort seems the next in line for the Hawkeyes to make a leap and keep the status quo alive.

If Dawson Garcia was playing for a top half conference team, he could have the potential to have topped this list. However at some point the individual stats have to lead to meaningful basketball being played, and as mentioned above, the Gophers were devastatingly bad last year. Garcia returned home to Minnesota in 2022-23 (his third team in three seasons) after a semi lackluster 16 games at UNC, but led the Gophers in both PPG and RPG, with only Battle on this list having a single season where he averaged more PPG. He scored 18+ points eleven times last season including a 28 point explosion in Minnesota’s win at Ohio State and 19 in their home win against Rutgers. The best inside/out perimeter threat at the PF spot, Garcia will look to make another large impact for the Gophers, with hopefully better results this year in the win column.

Probably the hardest guy for me to peg in the pecking order, I ultimately landed near the top of the second tier because for me he has the highest proven full season of anyone in this next grouping. Last year was undoubtedly forgettable for all parties, as Battle had his least efficient season of his four-year career, his production dropping from 17.5 PPG his junior year at Minnesota to 12.4 PPG in 2022-23 as the Gophers went an abysmal 2-17 in the league.

However, a change of scenery may be just what the doctor ordered, given Chris Holtmann’s track record with versatile forward types (EJ Liddell, Brice Sensabaugh) and the young guard talent that will surround him. Perhaps the transfer that is most going under the radar in the conference, Battle is a proven high volume shooter from the perimeter who is a nightmare to defend both in the pick and pop and off the bounce, and should provide meaningful shooting gravity for the rest of the roster. His floor, particularly on the defensive end may not be as high as the guys to follow, but the shooting upside - which to me should be weighed heavily at the PF spot - is clearly the highest.

Chris Holtmann has shown a recent knack for taking kids in the 30-50 range of rankings and turning them into one-and-done prospects. If there’s one guy on the roster who has the potential to follow this mold, it’s Scotty Middleton. A smooth shooting perimeter player who confidently plays off the bounce where he has showcased a lethal mid-range jumper that - with his size, length and athleticism - lets him get it off comfortably, Middleton should have a significant impact next season for the Buckeyes.

While it feels clear Bruce Thornton will likely take a large scoring and primary distribution role for the roster, Holtmann’s offenses have always been most effective when playing heavily through versatile forward types, and Middleton fits the bill. He needs to continue to add strength to his frame to finish through contact in the Big Ten, but at worst Middleton will be a viable secondary or tertiary scoring option and, at his best, has the ability to potentially lead Ohio State in scoring on any given night.

The enigma that is Coleman Hawkins returns for the Fighting Illini for his senior year. The talent is sizable, the defensive versatility notable, but can he actually harness his various skills and put them together in a positive way to actually make his team better? The ideal version of Hawkins as a position-less, bouncy athlete around the rim with playmaking skills has always been greater in thought than in practice on the offensive end.

He finished the year over his last eight games averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.6 APG to 2 TOV, 1.8 SPG, 1 BLK shooting 45.9% from the field, 27.6% from deep (3.6 3FGA) and 41.7% from the free throw line. With his and Terrence Shannon, Jr.’s return, Illinois has a tournament caliber roster, but if they want to fight out of the middle of the conference pack, Hawkins is going to need to hone in on becoming a more mature leader for the squad and an all around better offensive decision maker for his individual game.

The question for Malik Hall after his return for a fifth season will be centered around his health. Finishing both of the last two seasons banged up, and requiring offseason foot surgery this summer, Hall has flashed All Big Ten upside in spots over his career but has failed to put it together consistently for a whole year. Recent film from the program shows him back on the hardwood with the team and hopefully he has a chance to compete completely healthy for the full season.

Slotted back to his natural position at PF, we should see a return closer to his junior year efficiency where he shot 51.5% from the floor and 42.6% from deep. A versatile two-way guy who is at his best in the mid-post or getting catch and shoot looks as the trail man or in the pick and pop, Hall at his peak performance is as good as anyone on this list. The floor is firmly stable when he’s healthy, but the question is can he end his career showing the full potential of his ceiling in his final season for the Spartans?

Tyler Wahl’s start to last season was extremely promising as he averaged 14.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG on the way to an 8-2 record with wins over USC, Marqutte, Maryland and at Iowa. However, the wheels for Wisconsin fell off following Tyler Wahl’s ankle injury in January which kept him out for three games and for which he never looked fully recovered throughout the season.

He finished the year extremely inconsistent and ended up with his worst percentage inside the arc (43.8%) of his entire four-year career as the program sputtered down the stretch and failed to make the NCAA tournament. He’s never going to be the flashiest player, but Wahl is a dependable, serviceable forward who, when fully healthy, provides an extremely safe floor beside Steven Crowl in Wisconsin’s frontcourt.

Top ten kids don’t come available late in a lot of cycles and Indiana received a huge boon when Mgbako decommitted from Kansas’ loaded roster and committed to the Hoosiers.

Mgbako, from a talent perspective, has one of the highest potential NBA upsides of anyone on this list, but fell down my board due to concerns of fit next to Malik Reneau and Ke’El Ware. As discussed ad naseum, there are serious concerns regarding spacing in Indiana’s roster construction, and Mgbako may be forced to play out of position at the SF position due to the need for Indiana to get both Reneau and Kel’el Ware into the starting lineup, neither of whom are proven perimeter floor stretchers.

Mgbako is not a player that is overly comfortable attacking off the bounce at his current stage of his development and in EYBL play last summer he shot just 20% from beyond the arc. From his high school film, he is at his best cutting into open space and as a set shooter from the mid range, but in a compacted frontcourt those assets as a player may be constricted. The talent is there, and if the 3PT shooting follows a lot can fall into place for Indiana.

There are probably six names I could have used to fill out the last three spots on the list, but I chose the top three freshmen who are in line for the biggest roles across the conference. It doesn’t mean that teams like MSU and Purdue would trade their own respective youth for any of those three players, it just means as the rosters are constructed the opportunity for those three guys to NEED to contribute at a higher production output is much greater.

The one guy who also fits that bill - and I strongly debated sliding into the final spot - would have been 6’6’ PF Jamie Kaiser of Maryland. He averaged 15.7 PPG and 6.3 RPG over three games in Italy, and appears to be a comfortable floor spacer with Big Ten size and physicality. My only hesitation was that on a team with Jahmir Young, Deshawn Harris Smith, fifth-year D’onta Scott, and big man Julian Reese, it feels like Kaiser may end up getting the leftovers on the offense plate whereas the aforementioned three freshmen are more likely to be featured in their offensive roles. He’s a name to watch this season, and, regardless, should bolster what should be a fun Maryland team with additions in the right places.

I am sure Purdue fans will bemoan Trey Kaufman-Renn not making this list but with the depth at the forward position and the pure dominance of Zach Edey, I don’t see TKR averaging more than 8-10 PPG next year, even though he has recrafted his frame and performed admirably on their European tour abroad. The role opportunity for him and a guy like Myles Colvin - who I am also extremely high on as serious impact player for a re-tooled Boilermaker roster - may end up more intangible than found in the box score every night - and for those reasons they were left off the list.

MSU boasts their own talented freshmen forward duo in 6’11’ top ten PF/C Xavier Booker and 6’6” SF/PF Coen Carr (who may be the best pound for pound athlete in the entire 2023 class), but the role opportunities are slightly restricted with the depth and veterans ahead of them. If I were picking one guy to emerge as a bona fide impact player for MSU’s roster, I lean Carr, who should immediately come in as MSU’s best floor runner/rim finisher, and has the athleticism, motor, and instincts to be a defensively versatile nightmare both individually and as a secondary rim protector/glass cleaner. I am not sure if the production tops 6-7 PPG, but his overall impact should be felt in explosive highlight plays on a nightly basis.

There’s some clear upside at the top, with stable floor setting veterans mixed in, and a freshmen group that may not be garnering enough attention for their potential impact. In particular for Purdue and MSU, the youngins in this position group may be the difference between being second weekend good or third.

While there isn’t the abundance of clear cut NBA wing talent that has come through the Big Ten in recent years, there are a lot of really solid Power 5 starting caliber guys in the mix with a variety of different skill sets. If the guards are the talking point of the conference this season, the wings and forwards could end up being the stabilizing force for many rosters fighting for a top half conference finish.

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