Prediction: John Blackwell Will Win Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year

The last time a Badger won a Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year award was when Nigel Hayes took home the hardware in 2013. After a solid campaign in 2023 and now with a new, potentially more favorable rotation in 2024, John Blackwell certainly seems primed to bring the award back to Madison for the first time in a decade.

A More Favorable Rotation

With the departure of AJ Storr and Connor Essegian, a lot of minutes at the wing opened up for 2024. Incoming transfer John Tonje will definitely scoop up a lot of them, but that's still nearly 37 minutes a game that need to be replaced. In our projection, Max Klesmit will handle the duties at the two, and Tonje will play the three. But with the only other viable option to back either up being true freshman Jack Robison, it seems Blackwell will be the prominent choice anytime either starter is off the floor.

Blackwell averaged 18 minutes per game last year and it's probably a safe bet that's more in the range of 20-24 this season. That's really not a bad thing either, he could probably start on half of the Big Ten's rosters.

Overall Improvement

The Sixth Man winner last year was Purdue's Mason Gillis who averaged 6.5 points, 3.9 boards and 1.7 assists per game in 21.2 minutes. He was also an incredible shooter averaging 47.9% from the field and 46.8% from three. Blackwell's averages were not too different at 8.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists on 44.6% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc.

If Blackwell could just slightly improve upon his numbers, specifically assists, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better award candidate. With a jump in minutes and general improvement, Blackwell could be a major contributor off the bench for the Badgers.

Takeaways

There's a clear path to Blackwell taking home some hardware in 2024, and that's assuming he doesn't win the starting two role, which is still a small possibility. He's a great shooter who the Badgers can lean on and a player I expect to take a big leap forward this season.