April 03, 2025
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Sports

German earns first NIU men's basketball All-American honors since Kenny Battle

By Daily Chronicle

NIU guard Eugene German (10) drives to the basket against Green Bay Phoenix guard Kameron Hankerson (21) in DeKalb Dec. 21. (Sean King)

The awards continue to come in for Northern Illinois University men's basketball senior Eugene German senior who was named to the Lou Henson All-America Team on Wednesday by CollegeInsider.com, becoming the first Huskie to earn All-America recognition in 34 years. 

NIU's all-time leading scorer, German finished his Huskie career with 2,203 points, fifth-most in Mid-American Conference history and just eight points behind Eastern Michigan's Earl Boykins (1995-98, 2,211 points) for fourth all-time. This past season, German led the MAC in scoring, and ranked 24th nationally, as he averaged 20.5 points per game. 

German pulled down 4.1 rebounds per game and ranked in the top-15 in the conference with 2.7 assists per contest during his senior season while being named MAC West Division Player of the Week five times. He was also named the 3X3U National Championship Player of the Week on November 25 and the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week on February 10. 

The 2019-20 campaign marked the third consecutive year in which the Gary, Indiana native scored over 20 points per game. As a sophomore, German averaged 20.6 points per contest to lead the MAC while during his junior season the Huskie guard scored 20.4 points per game, which ranked second in the conference. German is one of just three players nationally, along with Marquette's Markus Howard and Weber State's Jerrick Harding, to average 20-plus points per game in each of the last three seasons. 

German becomes the first Huskie to earn All-America honors since Kenny Battle was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-America by the Associated Press and Sporting News in 1985-86. German is the eighth player in program history to receive All-America accolades, joining Jim Bradley, Billy Harris, Matt Hicks, Paul Dawkins, Allen Rayhorn, Tim Dillon and Battle. 

Earlier this month, German was named to the All-MAC First Team, becoming just the third three-time All-MAC performer in school history, along with Dawkins and Rayhorn. On Monday,German became NIU's first three-time NABC All-District honoree as he was named to the NABC All-District 14 First Team. 

German and the Huskies finished the 2019-20 season with 18 wins, sixth-most in school history, and as co-champions of the MAC West Division.