Badgers take home Big Ten honors
MADISON, Wis. - Six Badgers earned All-Big Ten honors when the conference handed out its annual season-ending awards on Monday.
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"I'm proud of our guys that were recognized and like I always say, individuals getting the accolades is a reflection on the work that the whole team is doing," Bo Ryan said in a release sent out by the UW Athletics Department. "I think having six players named to the list speaks to the balance of our team and the success we have had collectively."
Junior Frank Kaminsky was named a consensus first-team All-Big Ten honoree and sophomore forward Sam Dekker was named to the second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and to the third-team All-Big Ten by the media.
Nigel Hayes picked up two honors when he was named the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year and a selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Josh Gasser was named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive team for the second time in his career, while Ben Brust was the recipient of Wisconsin's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Gasser, Brust and Traevon Jackson were honorable mention All-Big Ten selections.
Kaminsky, who leads the Badgers in scoring at 13.4 points per game, is the eighth Badger to be named first-team All-Big Ten under Ryan. Those eight players, most recently Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer in 2011, have combined for 11 first-team all-conference honors, tied with Ohio State for the most of any Big Ten team during that era.
"I'm honored that people think I'm worthy of first-team All-Big Ten and I'm happy that I'm able to contribute to the team success we're having," Kaminsky said in the release. "When you come into the program you hear all about the great players who have come before you and made Wisconsin what it is. I'm humbled to be in that company."
Hayes is the second Badgers player in history to win the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Award (James Bohannon, 2008).
"It's always great when you can receive an individual honor but I couldn't have done it without my teammates so I look at this as a team award," Hayes said in the release. "Team success is always important and to be recognized as one of the conference's best reserves is an honor I will share with my teammates."
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