3 pts, 2 reb, 4 assists, 3 TO vs Minnesota. Definitely not the best player on the floor that day.
Awards Thread
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
At least it wasn’t the nut-kicker. Small joys.
2nd Team All American!!!
Help refresh my memory on this....To the rafters young stud.
Right side up.
Does this qualify for those that make either 1st or 2nd AA? Or is it only reserved for those who make 1st team?
I can't remember.
I had the same question and just looked it up. TSJ was 3rd team AA so it appears it's any level of AA.Help refresh my memory on this....
Does this qualify for those that make either 1st or 2nd AA? Or is it only reserved for those who make 1st team?
I can't remember.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Criteria for Honored Jersey (Must meet one):
- National Player of the Year
- Consensus First- or Second-Team All-American
- Big Ten Player of the Year
- Enshrinement in the National Basketball Hall of Fame
- Member of the Illinois All-Century Team
- U.S. Olympian
- Significant impact on Illinois/international basketball (pioneering efforts)
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Also, Today the four outlets used to select consensus teams are the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the United States Basketball Writers Association and Sporting Newsmagazine
So he’s got the first one . . .
So he’s got the first one . . .
It's 1st or 2nd team. We rightfully made an exception for TSJ.
Also it's consensus AA's who get raftered so, KW isn't quite there yet. Off to a good start though!
Keaton 2nd team:
www.sportingnews.com
Overview: Wagler’s might be the most unlikely story of any All-American in Sporting News history. He was ranked 150th in his high school class, recruited by almost no major schools, was not expected to start as the season approached and didn’t even play his primary position once he entered the rotation. After a disappointing loss to Connecticut, though, coach Brad Underwood handed Wagler the ball – and he became a sensation. As a starter, he’s not had one single-digit scoring game. He’s produced 19 games of five or more assists. He’s absurdly adept at running the pick-and-roll, and good luck to those who try drop coverage against that. There’s nothing Wagler enjoys more than a wide-open 3-pointer, and he’s delighted to fire if opponents grant it.
The Sporting News 2025-26 College Basketball All-America Team | Sporting News
The 2025 recruiting class has been compared to the greatest in the sport's history, and they now have something to claim that none of their predessors did: They ruled this year's All-America team.
www.sportingnews.com
Overview: Wagler’s might be the most unlikely story of any All-American in Sporting News history. He was ranked 150th in his high school class, recruited by almost no major schools, was not expected to start as the season approached and didn’t even play his primary position once he entered the rotation. After a disappointing loss to Connecticut, though, coach Brad Underwood handed Wagler the ball – and he became a sensation. As a starter, he’s not had one single-digit scoring game. He’s produced 19 games of five or more assists. He’s absurdly adept at running the pick-and-roll, and good luck to those who try drop coverage against that. There’s nothing Wagler enjoys more than a wide-open 3-pointer, and he’s delighted to fire if opponents grant it.
TSJ was an exception, you gotta love Whitman. "Obviously he doesn't meet the objective criteria that we have outlined for consideration with the jersey program, but I think we all recognize that without question that Terrence was one of the top 10 players in America this year; probably one of the top two or three players in America. He had one of the greatest single seasons in the history of Illinois Basketball. Arguably, the greatest season in the history of Illinois Basketball. We all understand that there were, now, factors beyond his control that prevented those votes from being where they needed to be in order for him to satisfy the criteria, and we're happy to make an exception in this case to recognize one of the great players that our program has ever seen."
Shannon to Join Honored Jerseys Program - University of Illinois Athletics
Terrence Shannon Jr. will join the Illinois Basketball Honored Jerseys program.
fightingillini.com
Players selected to have their jerseys hung must have achieved any of the following criteria:
1) National Player of the Year
2) Enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame
3) Big Ten Player of the Year
4) Consensus First- or Second-Team All-American
5) Illinois All-Century Team Member
6) Individual whose pioneering efforts made a significant impact on Illinois and international basketball
FWIW "Consensus" is based on a points system. You get 3 pts for 1st team, 2 pts for 2nd team, and 1 pt for 3rd team from each of the 4 recognized AA lists. To be consensus 1st team you have to be top-5 in points. To be consensus 2nd team, you have to be #6-10. So for the jersey criteria, it's top-10 in those points. Wagler is off to a good start.
Additional note, TSJ was only named to 3rd team by one publication, which is absolutely absurd. The other 3 didn't include him at all.
Additional note, TSJ was only named to 3rd team by one publication, which is absolutely absurd. The other 3 didn't include him at all.
Yaxel IMO is the most underrated player in college basketball (he's deserving of any recognition he gets). Lesser team and he's putting up video game #s offensively like he did at UAB.
The guy is a menace defensively able to guard 1-5. He'll go to some winning franchise in this loaded NBA draft and contribute.
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Really appreciate the breakdown Juice.
Think Wagler can make a 1st-Team on any of the 4?
My inclination is that he'll be coming in around # 6-8 range in most voting firmly planting himself in the 2nd Team Consensus and getting his jersey hung this fall.
Wouldn't be surprised if he is 3rd Team on at least 1 of the big 4.. Personally, I was a little shocked he wasn't unanimous selection All Big Ten along with Yaxel soo maybe that's swaying my confidence in voters..Not too mention the snub of TJ a couple years ago
although not official awards, Jay Bilas picked his all-amercan team and I know it's his opinion but he's better than this.
Stirtz is a great player but Keaton's stats are almost identical and Keaton for a large number of games carried us (2nd place tie in conference and hopefully a 2 seed) and many games with players setting out due to injuries.
Peterson, playing 10 less games than everyone else at best gets you Honorable Mention. Pre-season hype and potential number 1 draft pick should not be criterias for selection.
If you go thru his writes up on each player, it's almost like he was forced to put Keaton on the third team.
www.espn.com
Stirtz is a great player but Keaton's stats are almost identical and Keaton for a large number of games carried us (2nd place tie in conference and hopefully a 2 seed) and many games with players setting out due to injuries.
Peterson, playing 10 less games than everyone else at best gets you Honorable Mention. Pre-season hype and potential number 1 draft pick should not be criterias for selection.
If you go thru his writes up on each player, it's almost like he was forced to put Keaton on the third team.
Bilas' All-America teams: My top 20 men's college basketball players of 2025-26
Freshmen earned six of the 20 spots we handed out Tuesday. Here's who made the cut.
Neither was Johnny Davis when he won POY. And I think I saw Steinbach wasn’t unanimous for the freshman? All it takes is for one boneheaded, low IQ voter.
Don’t think the All American teams / jersey requirements have anything to do with “unanimous” voting.
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Alright, I have to be honest, I haven't actually watched Iowa St. play this year so maybe I'm just not getting it because there's an eye-test element I'm missing, but just based on stats I'm not getting the love for Joshua Jefferson. The stats aren't eye-popping, and he basically feasted on lesser competition. Here are his stats in Big 12 play:although not official awards, Jay Bilas picked his all-amercan team and I know it's his opinion but he's better than this.
Stirtz is a great player but Keaton's stats are almost identical and Keaton for a large number of games carried us (2nd place tie in conference and hopefully a 2 seed) and many games with players setting out due to injuries.
Peterson, playing 10 less games than everyone else at best gets you Honorable Mention. Pre-season hype and potential number 1 draft pick should not be criterias for selection.
If you go thru his writes up on each player, it's almost like he was forced to put Keaton on the third team.
Bilas' All-America teams: My top 20 men's college basketball players of 2025-26
Freshmen earned six of the 20 spots we handed out Tuesday. Here's who made the cut.
The rebound and assist numbers are still very good, but a lot of turnovers and really inefficient scoring. eFG% of .436 is not only not good, it's bad. The lowest eFG% in our entire rotation is Boswell with .523. AJ Redd's eFG% is .450 and Brandon Lee's is .412. That's right folks, Joshua Johnson, 1st Team AA according to both Sporting News and Jay Bilas, has been in the AJ Redd/Brandon Lee ballpark of scoring efficiency in Big 12 play.
Some really interesting metrics on him. He gets an absurd amount of FTs, so eFG would be less useful than TS%, but even that isn't good for him. So on SportsReference, his in-conference win shares puts him roughly tied for 6th (in the B12) with a handful of other players.
Still, he's a top 5 player in the nation on EvanMiya, which has a great track record of early-season game predictions because of their player ratings.
Edit: Oh, and Torvik has him 13th in the B12 by his offense-only "value over replacement player" metric, but #3 in the B12 (#11 in nation) in the (more generic) BPM. Since his ORTG is low, he's presumably getting a lot of credit for contributing to IAST's defense in that.
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Yes the PRPG! vs. BPM spread on Torvik is interesting. Torvik's got him as #11 in the nation in BPM but #56 in PRPG!, and in that latter metric he's not even the best player on his team. You're right on the answer, he is getting tons of credit for defense, and is #2 in the nation in the the D-PRPG! (obviously the defensive equivalent to PRPG!). Which is where I defer to anyone who has actually watched him play. Because I think analytic are not as good at figuring out the defensive value of individual players as they are with individual offense. Is he really that good on defense, or is ISU's scheme making it look like he's that good?
I'm a little more of a skeptic with Miya's ratings because they produce some funky results. For example, Ja'kobe Gillespie as the #6 player in the nation while Acuff is at #30 and Boyd is at #63. He also has Big Z as our 2nd best/most important player. I love Big Z, but I'm honestly not seeing that. I've noticed other oddities in prior seasons too.
I noticed that too about EvanMiya's player ratings.
As long as we don't have player tracking, I don't think the defensive metrics can be very good. If we could track who is guarding who, how fast they close out, etc, we'd have a ton more information.
Bilas's list just seems to have an awful lot of name recognition on it. Based solely on this season, Braden Smith is lucky to make first team B1G, let alone be on a first team All American. Ditto for Stirtz. In my book, neither one was one of the top 5 players in the B1G last season. Jay's got them listed as 2 of the top 10 players in the country. I respectfully disagree.although not official awards, Jay Bilas picked his all-amercan team and I know it's his opinion but he's better than this.
Stirtz is a great player but Keaton's stats are almost identical and Keaton for a large number of games carried us (2nd place tie in conference and hopefully a 2 seed) and many games with players setting out due to injuries.
Peterson, playing 10 less games than everyone else at best gets you Honorable Mention. Pre-season hype and potential number 1 draft pick should not be criterias for selection.
If you go thru his writes up on each player, it's almost like he was forced to put Keaton on the third team.
Bilas' All-America teams: My top 20 men's college basketball players of 2025-26
Freshmen earned six of the 20 spots we handed out Tuesday. Here's who made the cut.