Pryce Sandfort’s place among the Big Ten’s preseason elite is no longer up for debate.
The Nebraska wing was one of just two unanimous selections to the conference’s official preseason all-Big Ten team, landing on the 11-man list voted on by media members, including Husker247. The only other unanimous pick was Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears, who was named the preseason Big Ten player of the year.
Sandfort, who earned first-team all-Big Ten honors last season, is joined on the preseason team by David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic of Illinois, Pharrell Payne of Maryland, Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney of Michigan, John Mobley Jr. of Ohio State, Trent Perry of UCLA, Rodney Rice of USC and Nolan Winter of Wisconsin.
He also showed up as a first-team all-Big Ten choice in the unofficial media poll released by the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.
Nebraska, meanwhile, was slotted fifth in the league’s preseason media rankings. The Huskers are part of an 18-team conference that could be the toughest in the country.
There’s plenty behind that optimism in Lincoln, starting with Sandfort’s return. He made 129 threes last season while shooting 42 percent from deep, giving Nebraska a proven shot-maker as it prepares for another run.
Fred Hoiberg recently pointed to the next steps Sandfort can take.
"Just continue to evolve as a playmaker, continue to grow on the defensive end," Fred Hoiberg said recently. "But he's had a great few months."
Sandfort likes what he’s seeing from the group so far.
"I think we have similarities with everybody wanting to win," Sandfort said. "I think that's what we had last year is what made us so good is everybody had this deep desire to win above everything else. So you saw a lot of unselfish basketball and that's the most fun basketball I've ever played."
Nebraska will get its first look at the new roster on Friday, when it hosts Saint Louis in its first exhibition game.
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Jones still has multiple unofficial visits lined up at other schools during the 2026 season, and he already holds offers from several programs, so the race is only beginning to take shape. Even so, Nebraska has clearly made a strong impression early, which matters when a target at that level starts talking about a school as one of the places he wants to keep circling back to. [Read more 🡒]