The Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the Chicago Tribune to the men's and women's college basketball most valuable players of the Big Ten Conference each season, as voted upon by the league's coaches and officials. The Chicago Tribune awarded the Silver Basketball for men's basketball beginning in 1946 while the women's award was first presented in 1988.^[1][2] It was considered the pre-eminent Big Ten basketball individual award, eventually being superseded by the present-day men's and women's players of the awards as voted upon by the league's coaches and media.^[3] The Silver Basketball was discontinued after the 2006–07 season.

A number of men's and women's honorees were also named the national player of the year (NPOY) by one of the major selectors in the same season of this award. On the men's side, nine unique players represented 10 NPOYs, with Ohio State's Jerry Lucas repeating as back-to-back NPOY in 1961 and 1962. On the women's side, two players were also NPOYs: Carol Ann Shudlick (1994) and Stephanie White (1999).

Key

Winners

Murray Wier, Iowa, 1948

Jerry Lucas, Ohio State, 1960 through 1962

Michelle Edwards, Iowa, 1988

Johnny Green, Michigan State, 1959

Mychal Thompson, Minnesota, 1978

MaChelle Joseph, Purdue, 1992

Katie Smith, Ohio State, 1996

Mike Woodson, Indiana, 1980

Steve Alford, Indiana, 1987

Stephanie White, Purdue, 1999

Katie Douglas, Purdue, 2001

Glen Rice, Michigan, 1989

Jim Jackson, Ohio State, 1991 and 1992

Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota, 2002

Calbert Cheaney, Indiana, 1993

Glenn Robinson, Purdue, 1994

Jared Jeffries, Indiana, 2002

Devin Harris, Wisconsin, 2004