Nebraska senior James Palmer Jr. was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team by the both the coaches and the media on Monday afternoon when the league announced its postseason honors.
Palmer averaged 19.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.4 minutes per game while starting all 31 games for the Huskers this season. His efficiency dipped significantly from a season ago however, as he finished at 36.5 percent from the field, though he saw a slight uptick in 3-point percentage (31.5) and free-throw percentage (77.3).
The Huskers entered the season with NCAA Tournament aspirations but injuries and other issues resulted in a 16-15 record overall including 6-14 in Big Ten play, 13th in the 14-team conference.
Palmer was named an All-Big Ten First-Team performer by the coaches a season ago while the media named him to the second team. He was voted to the preseason All-Big Ten team this season.
Palmers scored 20-plus points in 15 of his 31 games and was in double figures in all but two of them as a senior. He put up a season-high 30 points in Nebraska’s 94-85 win over Creighton on Dec. 8 and matched that in Nebraska’s 91-76 loss at Michigan State on March 5. He closed out the regular season with a 27-point, six-assist, three-steal effort in Nebraska’s 93-91 senior day overtime win against Iowa on Sunday.
Michigan State junior point guard Cassius Winston was named the league’s Player of the Year while Purdue’s Matt Painter was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Boilermakers to a split of the Big Ten title along with the Spartans. Michigan State sophomore Xavier Tillman was named Sixth Man of the Year while Michigan’s Ignaz Brazdeikis was selected as the league’s Freshman of the Year.
The Big Ten Tournament will begin on Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago. The Huskers will face Rutgers in the first play-in game at 5:30 p.m. CT on BTN.
Full All-Big Ten teams:
First Team (Coaches)
- Carsen Edwards, Purdue
- Cassius Winston, Michigan State
- Lamar Stevens, Penn State
- Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
- Bruno Fernando, Maryland
First Team (Media)
- Carsen Edwards, Purdue
- Cassius Winston, Michigan State
- Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
- Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
- Bruno Fernando, Maryland
Second Team (Coaches)
- Zavier Simpson, Michigan
- Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland
- Romeo Langford, Indiana
- Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
- Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
Second Team (Media)
- Zavier Simpson, Michigan
- Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland
- Lamar Stevens, Penn State
- Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
- Tyler Cook, Iowa
Third Team (Coaches)
- Jordan Bohannon, Iowa
- James Palmer Jr., Nebraska
- Amir Coffey, Minnesota
- Tyler Cook, Iowa
- Nick Ward, Michigan State
Third Team (Media)
- Romeo Langford, Indiana
- James Palmer Jr., Nebraska
- Amir Coffey, Minnesota
- Juwan Morgan, Indiana
- Nick Ward, Michigan State
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
