Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware receives All-Big Ten Second Team honors

Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware earned Big Ten honors on Tuesday as he was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team by the media.

He was also named to the All-Defensive team.

The 7-foot center has had a fantastic season for Indiana basketball in his first year in Bloomington. He finished the regular season averaging 16.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game all while shooting 59.9 percent from the field.

In Big Ten play alone, Ware is averaging 16.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 63.2 percent from the floor. He leads the league in field goal percent in Big Ten-only games. He also ranks fourth in conference-only games in blocks per game.

He finished ranked 10th in scoring and second in rebounding in Big Ten games.

Ware has been the most consistent and best player for Indiana basketball all season long. He has 10 games this season with at least 20 points and five with at least 25 points.

He also has 14 double-doubles and 15 games with double figure rebounds. Ware had zero double-digit rebounding games as a freshman. He also didn’t have a 20-point game last year.

“Well, it’s the second effort,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said earlier this season of the difference in Ware from when they got him. “When we first got him, that didn’t even exist in terms of him making second and third efforts to try to go get the basketball. A lot of it was he just hadn’t been taught and pushed to do it. I mean, it’s like night and day from the time we got him to where he is today in terms of going hard and understanding that you just can’t take possessions off.”

“I would say I’m more in a groove now with Coach Woodson giving me that role where he trusts me enough to just go make the play and attack the basket, score, even throw it out to my teammates and just play smart on the court,” Ware said earlier this season. “As long as I’m playing hard and just giving them that, then we should be good.”

In the last four games — all wins for Indiana — he has averaged 22.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. He is also shooting 72.7 percent from the field in that span. He has three games of at least 26 points.

In the last 11 games, Ware has averaged 19.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 66.9 percent from the floor.

His career high came this year, scoring 28 points against Harvard. He also tied that in the regular season finale against Michigan State.

“All I can tell you guys after that first month, he’s been a totally different player,” Woodson said over the weekend. “I got to give tribute to your coaching staff and how they work, and we pushed him and his teammates believe in him and I believe in him. He’s been phenomenal, been playing unbelievable, which is kind of nice to see.”

Kel’el Ware also is just the second player this season to record at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a game (Johni Broome, Auburn).

Ware finished the regular season ranked first in the Big Ten in defensive rebound rate, second in rebounds per game, third in player efficiency rating, third in total rebound percentage, fifth in blocks per game, sixth in block percentage and eighth in total plus/minus.

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