Rutgers’ Corey Sanders Earns Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Honors

Sophomore guard Corey Sanders earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Honors this evening by both the coaches & media. He leads Rutgers in points, assists, and steals this season and ranks among the conference leaders in all three categories.

From the press release:

Sanders leads Rutgers and ranks among the Big Ten leaders with a 13.0 points-per-game scoring average. He also paces the Scarlet Knights in steals (1.4) and assists (3.3), while ranking tied for fifth and tied for 13^th in the conference, respectively, in those categories. Sanders has scored in double-figures 21 times this season, including 14 of 18 Big Ten games. In the team’s three league victories, he averaged 22.3 points and had 25 in wins over Penn State and Nebraska.

In the Scarlet Knights’ three Big Ten seasons, Sanders is the first player to earn recognition from the league’s coaches. Myles Mack was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection by the media in 2015.

While Sanders has seen his scoring decrease from last season, he is a more complete player and has been better on the defensive end as well. His growth was on full display in Saturday’s victory over Illinois, when after starting 1 for 10 from the field, he responded with five clutch baskets down the stretch and found Deshawn Freeman for the game winning shot. He talked with us about the victory here.

Sanders was infamously snubbed from the All-Big Ten Freshman Team last season, which I covered here. It’s nice to see him receive some recognition from both the coaches and media this season. It’s notable that he is the first Rutgers player ever honored by the league coaches as well.

In addition, Junior guard Mike Williams was also honored, receiving the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for Rutgers. He has been the heart and soul of the team this season and is arguably the most improved player on the team. It’s nice to see him recognized for the class act that he has always been since he stepped foot on the banks.

Congratulations to Corey Sanders & Mike Williams!

To read about Wednesday’s matchup in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, click here.