After a 7-24 season, Nebraska was shut out from the All-Big Ten teams and individual postseason awards. However, the media named sophomore point guard Cam Mack an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.
Mack was one of eight players who received honorable mention nods from the media. The conference’s coaches only selected four honorable mention players not including Mack.
The transfer from Salt Lake Community College averaged 12.0 points, 6.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 34.8 minutes per game, though he only shot 38.6% from the field, 33.9% from 3 and 56.9% from the free-throw line. Mack was second in the conference in assists per game in Big Ten play at 6.8.
He started 25 of 28 games. Mack missed Nebraska’s game at Illinois while dealing with an illness. Fred Hoiberg suspended Mack for Nebraska game against Michigan on March 5 for a violation of team rules, then Nebraska announced that Mack and Dachon Burke Jr. had been suspended indefinitely ahead of Nebraska’s regular season finale at Minnesota on Sunday.
Senior Haanif Cheatham, who led the team in scoring at 13.0 points per game and served as the team’s vocal leader in his one year as a Husker, was Nebraska’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Iowa center Luka Garza is the Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten pick by both the coaches and the media. He’s joined on the coaches’ first team by Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (unanimous), Penn State’s Lamar Stevens, and Maryland’s Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith.
The media selected Winston, Stevens and Smith as well but had Illinois sophomore Ayo Dosunmu in Cowan’s place.
The coaches’ second team includes Dosunmu, Michigan’s Zavier Simpson, Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman, Minnesota’s Daniel Oturu and Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson. The third team includes Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp, Rutgers’ Geo Baker and Wisconsin’s Nate Reuvers and D’Mitrik Trice. Illinois’ Kofi Kockburn, Minnesota’s Marcus Carr, Purdue’s Trevion Williams and Rutgers’ Ron Harper Jr. were honorable mention picks.
The media’s second team includes Cowan, Simpson, Tillman, Oturu and Wesson while the third team features Kockburn, Jackson-Davis, Wieskamp, Carr and Reuvers. Honorable mention picks besides Mack were Trice, Harper, Baker, Williams, Maryland’s Darryl Morsell, Michigan’s Isaiah Livers and Penn State’s Myron Jones.
Wisconsin’s Greg Gard is the Coach of the Year for both the coaches and the media after leading the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Illinois center Kofi Cockburn also swept the Freshman of the Year honors. The coaches named Maryland’s Aaron Wiggins the Sixth Man of the Year. Tillman is the Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to Tillman, the coaches voted Smith, Oturu, Purdue’s Nojel Eastern and Penn State’s Jamari Wheeler to the All-Defensive Team. Joining Cockburn on the All-Freshman team are Jackson-Davis, Iowa’s CJ Fredrick, Michigan’s Franz Wagner and Michigan State’s Rocket Watts.
The Big Ten Tournament is set to begin on Wednesday night. Nebraska, the No. 14 seed, will take on 11th-seeded Indiana in the second play-in game 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 5 p.m. CST game between No. 12 Minnesota and No. 13 Northwestern.
