Iowa men’s basketball forward Payton Sandfort could be one of the top players in the Big Ten this season. The senior was named to the Big Ten’s preseason all-conference team on Tuesday — just one of 10 players to earn the selection.
Sandfort has racked up over 1,000 points over his Hawkeye career and bypassed several NBA opportunities to return to Iowa City for his final season.
But how does he stack up against the other names on the list?
Purdue third-year guard Braden Smith was the lone unanimous selection to the team after a stellar sophomore season where he led the Boilermakers to the NCAA title game and a school record 34 victories.
Penn State guard Ace Baldwin was chosen after earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024. At Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, the fifth-year said he was selected because of his strong defense and his ability to spread the floor on offense.
“I’m just a floor general, a point guard, getting my teammates involved and just being myself,” Baldwin said.
Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton makes the list after a breakout sophomore campaign where he led the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game. Thorton praised the important people around him and in his life after his selection.
“God, he did everything for me to get in this position,” Thornton said. “My teammates, my coaches got me in this great position where I can explore and be the best I could possibly be. Now I got to show everybody why they picked me for a reason.”
Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhazier earned the honor after guiding the Wildcats to their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance last year. The senior averaged 14.6 points per contest in 2024.
“I think I do a lot of things in the game that maybe not a lot of people see,” Barnhizer said. “I think it’s kind of always been my calling card. I really try to compete, and I think I really impact winning.”
As for Sandfort, he has established himself as one of the game’s premier three-point shooters, ranking ninth in Iowa history in made triples, with 187 shots made over his career. In addition to his ability to fire from long-range, the 6-foot-8 sharpshooter is known for his rebounding ability, snagging 6.6 rebounds per game in 2024.
“Obviously, I’m really proud of myself,” Sandfort said. “It’s preseason, so it doesn’t mean anything outside of what I’ve done in the past, but it’s a cool accomplishment. It’s something I’m really proud of myself for, but now it’s just kind of a building block.”
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery is also pleased with Sandfort’s accomplishments.
“I’m just really proud of Payton,” McCaffery said. “He’s been a terrific player for us for three years, led the league in threes last year with 94. He wanted to come back and lead our team. That makes me very proud that he wanted to do that, that he thinks that much of his teammates and our program. I’m not surprised. I think he’s going to be fabulous.”
Sandfort attributed his selection to his dedicated work-ethic.
“I have good size and skills, but a ton of those skills are just built through hard work every single day, having to go through a lot of really tough days,” Sandfort said. “I didn’t play early in my high school career. I didn’t play a ton early in my freshman year here. You have to battle through a lot to get to this point.”
Sandfort is eager to begin his final season, hopefully leading the Hawkeyes back to the NCAA tournament after missing it last season.
“I’m really proud of myself for the way that I’ve built myself up to be the player that I am and the leader that I am for this team,” Sandfort said. “It’s something that I continue to use going forward. I have a lot of lessons that not a lot of people have learned yet.”