Badgers' Hayes, Koenig named to preseason All-Big Ten Team
One day after they were named as preseason candidates for national awards at their respective positions, Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig have now been recognized as players to watch in their conference.
Both Badgers juniors were named to the 2015-16 preseason All-Big Ten Team on Wednesday, as selected by a vote of the league's media.
It was the first time either player was named to the preseason all-conference team. Hayes was one of four unanimous selections, along with Maryland's Melo Trimble, Michigan State's Denzel Valentine and Purdue's A.J. Hammons.
This was the second year in a row that two Badgers were included on the list. Last season, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker were on the preseason All-Big Ten team, with Kaminsky eventually being named the 2015 National Player of the Year and Dekker an All-Big Ten Second Team honoree. Both players became first-round NBA draft picks.
Hayes, a forward, and Koenig, a guard, are the 11th and 12th players to earn preseason all-conference honors under head coach Bo Ryan, which is tied for the most in the Big Ten since 2001.
Trimble was named the preseason player of the year.
The rest of the All-Big Ten team is Indiana's James Blackmon Jr. and Yogi Ferrell, Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff, Maryland's Jake Layman and Michigan's Caris LeVert.
