Big Ten Basketball Links: 8/19

Big Ten related basketball news has started to slowly increase, though it's being buried underneath all of the conference hype for the upcoming football season. Nonetheless, we take a look at a handful of stories that have been developing throughout the conference.

Spike Albrecht looking to continue meteoric rise at Michigan

Sports Illustrated recently took some time to profile Michigan guard Spike Albrecht, who was relatively unknown until an impressive 17 point first half performance in the NCAA title game.

Penn State Wins Final Euro Game

Penn State picked up a 95-53 win over Binnenland on Thursday, bouncing back from a loss against St. Jan the game before. The team was led D.J. Newbill's 24 points. Penn State finished their Euro Trip with a 2-1 record.

Brandon Brantley Hired As Assistant Coach

Purdue has hired Brandon Brantley as an assistant coach. Brantley played for the Boilermakers earlier in the 90s and will be replacing Micah Shrewsberry, who departs to join the Boston Celtics coaching staff.

More Links:

• SI takes a quick look at the future B1G season

• Rush the Court takes a look at Nik Stauskas and his potential impact on the Wolverines 2013-14 season

• Rush the Court also looks at Yogi Ferrell, who will be counted on considerably more this year in Bloomington

• Ohio State added a point guard to it's 2015 recruiting class with A.J. Harris. Harris is a 3 star recruit per Scout

• James Blackmon Jr. recently decommitted from Indiana. It now looks like Michigan is making a push for the highly touted recruit

• The B1G once again led the nation in attendance. This past season marks the 37th season in a row the conference has held this honor

• The times and networks for the Big Ten - ACC challenge were released last week. The challenge will take place on December 3rd and 4th

• Even with the upcoming switch over to the Big Ten, Maryland's athletic department is still going to be in massive debt for at least the next several years

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