Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2016-17 | Hawk Talk Monthly — May
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Redshirt junior Nicholas Baer (men’s basketball) and 2017 graduate Sophie Plasteras (field hockey) have been selected as Iowa’s 2017 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners. The duo was chosen from Iowa’s list of 2016-17 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners, which had a representative from each varsity sport.
Baer was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year after helping lead the men’s basketball team to a 19-15 overall record and fifth straight first division finish in the Big Ten Conference. Baer averaged 7.5 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocked shots in 34 contests. The native of Bettendorf, Iowa, was the only Division I player in 2016-17 and only Big Ten player over the last 25 seasons to amass 250+ points, 45+ steals, 45+ 3-pointers, and 40+ blocked shots in a season. Baer became only the fourth player to lead a Hawkeye team in both steals (48) and blocked shots (43) in the same season.
Plasteras started all 19 games for the Hawkeyes in 2016. The North Vancouver, Canada, native tallied nine goals and three assists for 21 points. She notched a pair of goals and registered a career-high five points in Iowa’s win over Saint Louis on Sept. 4. Plasteras is a three-time All-Big Ten honoree.
The Big Ten first awarded the Outstanding Sportsmanship honor in 2003. The student-athletes choses were individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, were in good academic standing and demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Following is a list of Iowa’s past Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners:
Year – Iowa Men’s Award Winner/Iowa Women’s Award Winner
2003 – Stuart Waters, Men’s Tennis/Kristin Johnson, Softball
2004 – Nate Kaeding, Football/Laura Chipman, Softball
2005 – Joe Johnston, Wrestling/Jennifer Skolaski, Swimming & Diving
2006 – Adam Haluska, Men’s Basketball/Liz Grajewski, Women’s Gymnastics
2007 – Adam Haluska, Men’s Basketball/Kara Zappone, Field Hockey
2008 – Bart van Monsjou, Men’s Tennis/Brittany Keyes, Rowing
2009 – Christian Bierich, Men’s Tennis/Wendy Ausdemore, Women’s Basketball
2010 – A.J. Edds, Football/Laura Cilek, Women’s Golf
2011 – Chris Brant, Men’s Golf/Kelsey Cermak, Women’s Basketball
2012 – Matt Gatens, Men’s Basketball/Betsy Flood, Women’s Track & Field
2013 – Eric May, Men’s Basketball/Mareike Schrulle, Women’s Cross Country
2014 – James Morris, Football/Theairra Taylor, Women’s Basketball
2015 – Mark Weisman, Football/Melissa Dixon, Women’s Basketball
2016 – Drew Ott, Football/Amy Ihm, Women’s Golf
2017 – Nicholas Baer, Men’s Basketball/Sophie Plasteras, Field Hockey
