Wisconsin Badgers backcourt earns All-Big Ten recognition, assistant wins award
Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd and John Blackwell earn All-Big Ten honors while Sharif Chambliss wins the Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
The Wisconsin basketball team’s regular season is officially in the books, and with it came a wave of recognition for several key figures inside the program.
The Badgers finished the regular season 22-9 overall and 14-6 in Big Ten play, good for a No. 23 ranking in the Associated Press poll entering the postseason. Along the way, Wisconsin leaned heavily on one of the most productive backcourts in the conference while also benefiting from the steady influence of a respected voice on the bench.
That impact was reflected when the Big Ten’s postseason awards were announced.
Senior point guard Nick Boyd earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after delivering one of the most productive offensive seasons in recent Wisconsin memory. Boyd averaged 20.1 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game while starting all 31 contests. He shot 48% from the field, 35.4% from beyond the arc, and 81.5% from the free-throw line, finishing the regular season with 123 assists against just 52 turnovers.
Boyd’s production was the engine behind much of Wisconsin’s offensive success this year, and his ability to balance scoring with playmaking helped stabilize a team that took time to find its rhythm early in the season. It also helped power a Badgers offense that finished the regular season ranked No. 95 nationally in tempo according to KenPom, which was the fastest recorded pace of the Bo Ryan and Greg Gard era.
Right alongside him in the backcourt, junior guard John Blackwell earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition after putting together another strong campaign of his own.
Blackwell averaged 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game across 30 starts. He shot 41.2% from the field, 38% from 3-point range, and 85.8% from the free-throw line while continuing to grow into one of Wisconsin’s most reliable scoring threats.
Together, Boyd and Blackwell formed one of the most dangerous backcourt pairings in the Big Ten, if not the entire country, this season, driving an offense that steadily improved as the year progressed.
“I’m not really the type of guy to say it, but honestly, I look across the board, and I think we’re the best backcourt in the country,” Blackwell said after Wisconsin’s 97-93 win over Purdue.
“When it comes to big games, I think we just get it done. We try to stay on the relentless attack, and we’re constantly motivating each other out there. That’s the best part of it. I’m telling him when it’s time to go, and whatever he does, I trust it. I’m riding with it. And I know he’s the same way with me. We built that connection in the summer, and we’re just going to keep building it and keep getting better. I love playing with him. I love the energy he brings to the game, and we’re just going to keep it going.”
The recognition didn’t stop with the players.
Wisconsin assistant coach Sharif Chambliss was named the recipient of the Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year Award, an honor given to a men’s basketball assistant who demonstrates a strong commitment to the development of student-athletes both on and off the court while making a meaningful impact in the community.
Chambliss, a former Wisconsin captain, has spent the past five seasons on the Badgers’ coaching staff and played a key role in the program’s player development during that stretch, including helping guide the team to the 2022 Big Ten regular season title.
Beyond the court, Chambliss has remained active in the Madison community, volunteering with initiatives such as the Badger Challenge, Balance and Believe, and Garding Against Cancer.
The award is named in honor of former Wisconsin player and assistant coach Howard Moore, whose influence within the program and across the Big Ten extended far beyond basketball.
Moore played for the Badgers from 1992 to 1995 and later served two stints as an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2016 to 2019 before working as an analyst for the Big Ten Network. His impact on the community and the lives of those around him continues to be recognized through the award that bears his name.
“Me, Coach [Gard] and the rest of the assistants talk about it a lot because we’re together all the time,” Chambliss said in a video shared on social media addressed to Jerell Moore. “But your dad — if I could live in even one-tenth of the shoes he had. What he instilled in this program and how much he loved being a Wisconsin Badger, that’s what really matters.”
With the regular season now complete, Wisconsin turns its attention to the postseason, hoping to carry the momentum it has built with a group that has continued to grow together as the year unfolded.
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