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USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Recapping Wisconsin basketball star John Tonje's 2024-25 final season accolades
Recapping Wisconsin basketball star John Tonje's 2024-25 final season accolades Wisconsin basketball star wing John Tonje piloted one of the most storied individual seasons in recent program history in 2024-25. In his first and only season in Madison, the North Omaha, Nebraska, native averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 31.1 minutes per action across 37 games. He did so while shooting 46.5% from the floor, 38.8% from beyond the arc and 90.9% from the free throw line. As the go-to offensive option on Greg Gard's team, Tonje captained it to a No. 3-seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. UW vanquished No. 14 Montana in the first round before falling to No. 6 BYU in a second-round nail-biter, a game in which Tonje scored an NCAA Tournament program-record 37 points. Tonje's dominance undoubtedly cemented him as one of the most prolific Badgers in recent memory. He joins a decorated list that includes Johnny Davis, Ethan Happ, Nigel Hayes, Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky. He may not have led the same postseason run that Dekker and Kaminsky captained, but the veteran wing's ability to lead Wisconsin from a low preseason projection (No. 12 in the preseason Big Ten media poll) to the top 10 of the AP Poll makes his season unforgettable. The sixth-year wing was named Big Ten Player of the Week on three occasions, the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week twice, plus the 2024 Greenbrier Tip-Off Tournament MVP in mid-November. He, Derik Queen (Maryland), Brice Williams (Nebraska), Trey Kaufman-Renn (Purdue) and Braden Smith (Purdue) were named to the All-Big Ten First Team. Tonje, Kaufman-Renn and Smith were the three unanimous selections. Furthermore, Tonje was named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Sporting News. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named the standout wing a member of its third team. While Tonje may have played his way into some First Team projections, Duke's Cooper Flagg, Alabama's Mark Sears, Auburn's Johni Broome, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. and Purdue's Smith were impossible to displace. Only three Wisconsin alumni have earned First-Team honors since 2006: Davis (2021-22), Kaminsky (2024-25) and Alando Tucker (2006-07). Tonje has been projected as a late second-round NBA draft pick, picked to go somewhere between No. 50 and No. 55, barring a major slip. Nonetheless, the previously unheralded transfer addition has been immortalized in Madison. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Iowa baseball infielder named Big Ten Player of the Week
Iowa baseball infielder named Big Ten Player of the Week KOOOOP!!!! Nelson plates a run on an error + Schulte with a double and the Hawks are back on top!!! #Hawkeyes — Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 5, 2025 With Iowa baseball (20-10, 12-3 Big Ten) returning home following a weekend conference series victory over Northwestern (14-15, 6-6), Hawkeyes' junior shortstop Kooper Schulte was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday. Schulte slashed a 0.600 batting average, 0.692 on-base, and a 1.200 slugging percentage while leading all Big Ten hitters with a 1.892 OPS on the week. He tallied seven RBIs and five runs scored as Iowa went 3-1 on the week, defeating Bradley and winning its fifth straight Big Ten series at Northwestern. The New London, Iowa, native hit 0.571 with runners on and successfully advanced runners in 7 of 9 chances. He also went 4-for-4 with runners on third base with less than two outs during the four-game span. In his most impressive game of the week, Schulte went 3-for-3 with two doubles as the second-baseman in Iowa's 7-1 win on Saturday after being a late addition to the lineup following a scratch to Ben Swails an hour before the first pitch. The honor is Schulte's first of his career and the Hawkeyes' second Player of the Week this season, joining Reese Moore's March 24th distinction. Schulte joins junior starting pitcher Cade Obermueller, who was also named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week in the conference's honors on Monday. Iowa's next game will be later today vs. UW-Milwaukee (9-20, 7-4 Horizon League) with the first pitch from Duane Banks Field coming at 4:02 p.m. CT. The game against the Panthers will still be streamed on Big Ten Plus (Subscription required), alongside the radio call on the Hawkeyes Radio Network with play-by-play voice John Leo and color analyst John Evans. We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn't influence our coverage. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews
USA Today
23-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Wisconsin star John Tonje falls just shy of Frank Kaminsky's single-season scoring record
Wisconsin star John Tonje falls just shy of Frank Kaminsky's single-season scoring record The Wisconsin Badgers fell 91-89 to the BYU Cougars in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday evening. Despite trailing by as many as 14 points with under 11 minutes left in the second half, the Badgers remained afloat against BYU's stout offensive unit. That was almost entirely thanks to a terrific game from star wing John Tonje. In the final contest of his collegiate career, the North Omaha, Nebraska, native tallied 37 points, four rebounds and four assists off 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. His 37 tallies are the most by a Wisconsin player in an NCAA tournament game, plus the most by any player through the first three days of this year's tournament. Most notably, 26 of Tonje's 37 points arrived in the second half. He connected on 11 free throw attempts, nailed a flurry of looks from beyond the arc and attacked the painted area relentlessly to spearhead Wisconsin's late comeback. That comeback fell just short as Tonje missed his final shot attempt from the baseline, attempting to knot the game at 91 apiece in the final seconds. His look was well-contested. BYU quickly grabbed the defensive rebound and dribbled the clock out to 0:00. Sophomore John Blackwell and senior Max Klesmit each played well down the stretch. Tonje, however, looked unstoppable. His sensational individual performance was not enough to push Greg Gard's team to victory, mostly due to a lack of contributions from the bench, poor rebounding and a season-worst defensive performance. Tonje concludes his one-year Wisconsin career at No. 2 on the program's all-time single-season scoring list. His 37 points against BYU lifted him to 724 on the season (19.6 per game), finishing just eight shy of Frank Kaminsky's 732 points in 2014-15. The outing elevated him from No. 3 to No. 2 on the list, passing Alando Tucker (716 points). If Wisconsin had overcome BYU, he would have certainly broken Kaminsky's mark against either Alabama or Saint Mary's in the Sweet 16. While he didn't play multiple years in Madison, Tonje will be remembered as one of the more electrifying offensive players in recent program history. He was named a Naismith College Player of the Year Semifinalist, a Second-Team All-American, a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten honoree and three-time Big Ten Player of the Week. His season rightfully finishes in the same conversation as Kaminsky's 2014-15. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
New York Times
18-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Michigan baseball player apologizes for mimicking cocaine snorting after sliding into third base
University of Michigan baseball player Mitch Voit apologized Monday for a celebration in which he appeared to mimic snorting a line of cocaine after hitting a triple in Sunday's win over USC. The junior infielder called the act 'an immature decision' in a statement posted to social media. 'I would like to apologize for my actions on third base yesterday,' Voit said. 'I made an immature decision in the heat of the moment. The gesture I made does not reflect my character, the household I was raised in, or the block M that I represent in any kind of way. I take full responsibility for what I did, and I am truly sorry to all those who I have negatively impacted by doing this.' Advertisement The incident occurred in the second inning after Voit's bases-clearing triple. Voit slid head-first into the bag, lowered his face to the third-base line and imitated snorting the chalk like a line of cocaine. Clips of the celebration promptly garnered viral attention on social media. The gesture was not included in a clip of Voit's highlights from the game posted by the Big Ten Baseball account on X, though the hit was. Mitch Voit did it with his bat (3-3, 4 RBI) and glove today. Watch the star 2B's highlights in @umichbaseball's run-rule win over USC 👇#B1GBaseball — Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) March 16, 2025 The 20-year-old from Wisconsin finished the game 3-for-3 with three runs and four RBIs in Michigan's eventual 11-0 win. On Monday, he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after scoring six runs and notching 12 RBIs over the five-game stretch. It was the first time Voit earned the honor in his collegiate career. Neither the Big Ten nor Michigan immediately responded to questions regarding whether or not the team would disciple Voit for his actions. Entering Tuesday, Voit has a team-best batting average of .451, a slugging percentage of .845 and leads the Wolverines with 32 hits, 28 RBIs and five home runs. Michigan (11-8) closes out a four-game homestand hosting Western Michigan (1-16) on Tuesday.
Fox News
18-03-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Michigan baseball player apologizes after drug-inspired celebration: ‘An immature decision'
Michigan infielder Mitchell Voit issued a public apology on social media Monday after his controversial and drug-inspired celebration during an 11-0 victory over USC the previous day went viral online. Voit, a 20-year-old junior from Wisconsin, went 3-for-3 with three runs and four RBIs in the shutout victory, but it was not his performance in the game that had fans talking on social media. With a 2-0 lead in the second inning, Voit ripped a triple to center field and slid to third base, where he celebrated the play by imitating the use of cocaine. The video made its rounds on X, prompting Voit's apology. "I would like to apologize for my actions on third base yesterday. I made an immature decision in the heat of the moment," his post read. "The gesture I made does not reflect my character, the household I was raised in, or the block M that I represent in any kind of way. I take full responsibility for what I did, and I am truly sorry to all those who I have negatively impacted by doing this." The apology came the same day Voit was named Big Ten Player of the Week. He scored six runs and registered 12 RBIs over five games, including a four-hit game against in-state rival, Michigan State. It was the first time in his collegiate career that he earned the honor. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
