ROSEMONT, Ill. -- On the eve of the Fighting Illini women's basketball team's Big Ten Tournament opener vs. Wisconsin, redshirt-junior center Eva Rubin was honored by the league as the team's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Rubin, from Flossmoor, Ill., is in her first season on the court with the Fighting Illini after transferring to the U of I following two seasons at Arizona State. She has started 18 of 20 games played for the Illini in 2020-21, averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest while leading the team with 20 blocks.  

Rubin was voted as a team co-captain prior to the start of the season. A type 1 diabetic since she was 13, Rubin is studying community health at Illinois and plans to pursue a career in nursing. She is an active member of several Illini student-athlete initiatives, including the Green Bandana Project, which promotes a supportive environment for student-athletes experiencing mental health stressors. Rubin also serves as the programming chair for EMPOWER, a group formed at Illinois in the Fall of 2019 with a mission to provide a family oriented safe space and support personal development for student-athletes of color as a community. 

The Big Ten Sportsmanship award is given annually to individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Rubin and the 12th-seeded Illini open the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow against 13th-seeded Wisconsin at 4 p.m. CT from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.