The awards continue to come in for Northern Illinois University men’s basketball senior Eugene German, Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter, who was named to the Division I Lou Henson all-America team Wednesday, March 25 by CollegeInsider.com and became the first Huskie to earn all-America recognition in 34 years.
Northern Illinois’ all-time leading scorer, German, a 6-0 guard, 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 (1995-1998, 2,211 points) for fourth all-time. This past season, German led the MAC in scoring, and ranked 24th nationally, when he averaged 20.5 points per game.
In addition to his remarkable scoring prowess of driving to the basket and outside shooting, German pulled down 4.1 rebounds per game and ranked in the top-15 in the conference with 2.7 assists per game during his senior season while being named MAC West Division Player of the Week five times. He was named the 3X3U National Championship Player of the Week November 25, 2019 and the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week February 10.
The 2019-2020 season marked the third consecutive year in which the Gary, Ind., native scored more than 20 points per game. As a sophomore, German averaged 20.6 points per game to lead the MAC and 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 University’s Markus Howard and Weber State University’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, West Aurora High School Class of 1984, 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. He joined Jim Bradley; Billy Harris; Matt Hicks, West Aurora, Class of 1973; Paul Dawkins; Allen Rayhorn; Tim Dillon; and Battle.
The Gary, Ind., native in March was named to the all-MAC first team, to become just the third three-time All-MAC performer in school history, along with Dawkins and Rayhorn. Monday, March 23, German became NIU’s first three-time NABC All-District honoree when he was named to the NABC All-District 14 first team.
German and the Huskies finished the 2019-2020 season with 18 victories, sixth-most in school history, and co-champions of the MAC West Division.
— Northern Illinois University