This season has been one to remember for the Wisconsin men's basketball team, yet it became even more memorable for two of its brightest starts. For the first time in school history, the Badgers had two players named to the All-Big Ten team when the conference announced its year-end awards on Monday.
Junior guard Jordan Taylor and senior forward Jon Leuer were named first team All-Big Ten. Taylor was named by both the coaches and the media, while Leuer was named first team by the coaches and earned second team honors from the media.
Taylor was selected by the coaches to the All-Big Ten defensive team as well.
""Placing Jordan on the All-Defensive Team shows that people recognize his impact,"" Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. ""They notice how hard he plays, that he's a scrappy player who is all over the place, taking charges, diving for loose balls. This recognizes his commitment to playing defense and working hard.""
Taylor has burst onto the NCAA scene and has quickly established himself as one of the nation's premier point guards. He ranks third in the Big Ten with 20.1 points per game in conference play to go along with 4.89 assists per game and a league-high 4.63 assist-to-turnover ratio. Taylor is also the only player in the Big Ten to rank in the top five in both scoring and assists.
""Jordan's recognition shows how hard he has worked,"" Leuer said. ""I've seen first hand from working with him during the offseason that he's worked extremely hard to fine-tune his game, and he's polished himself into the best point guard in the country.""
A preseason All-Big Ten selection, Leuer has built off his success from a year ago. He is third in the Big Ten in scoring with 19.0 ppg and fifth in the conference in rebounding with 7.4 per game. Leuer has also scored in double figures in 36 straight games.
""I thought Jon should have been Player of the Year in the Big Ten, but you can only control what you do on the court,"" Taylor said. ""Being picked first-team recognizes all the work he's put in on the court from his freshman year until now. It's really satisfying for me to watch him progress and have his hard work pay off.""
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report
