ROSEMONT, Ill. – Four members of the Fighting Illini men's golf team were recognized Tuesday (April 30) when the Big Ten Conference announced its annual postseason awards.
Max Herendeen was the unanimous choice as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and joined junior Jackson Buchanan to give Illinois two unanimous selections to the All-Big Ten first team. Sophomore Ryan Voois earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, and fifth-year senior Timmy Crawford was recognized as the Fighting Illini's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Herendeen becomes the eighth Illini to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, adding to the program's conference-leading total. The Bellevue, Washington native ranks No. 56 in the NCAA Division I men's golf rankings, second on the team, fourth in the Big Ten, and sixth among all freshman nationally. Through the Big Ten Championship, Herendeen's season stroke average of 71.28 is on pace to set the Illinois program's freshman record. He made his collegiate debut in his home state of Washington, finishing as runner-up (via a playoff for medalist honors) to lead the Illini to the team title at the season opener at the Sahalee Players Championship in September, a performance that earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors. Herendeen leads the team with 10 top-20 finishes through his first 11 collegiate stroke-play events and has notched a team-most 18 rounds at par or better.
Buchanan, who finished as runner-up to earn All-Big Ten Championship team accolades last weekend Scioto Country Club, earns his second-consecutive All-Big Ten first team selection. He is the Big Ten's top-rated golfer in the NCAA rankings at No. 28 nationally. A native of Dacula, Georgia, Buchanan has a career-best season stroke average of 70.65, on pace for the sixth-best mark in program history. He has recorded two individual tournament victories on the season – at the Purdue Fall Invitational in September and the Duck Invitational in March – to take home a pair of Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors and leads Illinois with top-10 finishes in eight of 11 stroke-play events. He has closed as the Illini's top finisher in a team-leading four tournaments, and through 32 stroke-play rounds he ranks as the team leader with 11 rounds in the 60s and 13 rounds under par.
Voois earns the first all-Big Ten selection of his career following a breakout sophomore campaign. He has joined Buchanan and Herendeen as the only Illini to compete in all 11 of the team's stroke-play events this season. The native of Ladera Ranch, California appeared in the Illini lineup in 10 tournaments and boasts a career-best season stroke average of 71.94 entering the NCAA Regionals. He recorded the first individual victory of his collegiate career earlier this month, going wire-to-wire for the win at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate to lead the Orange and Blue to the team title. Voois opened his win with a career-best round of 64 (-7) at Atkins Golf Club, setting the tournament record. The win was one of four top-10 finishes for Voois on the season, the second-best mark on the team, and earned him the first Big Ten Player of the Week nod of his career.
Crawford was recognized as the Illini's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award after joining the program for the 2023-24 season following a highly successful four-year career at Loyola University Chicago. In his lone season at Illinois, Crawford has played in eight events, including four in the Illini lineup, with a season stroke average of 71.57. He posted three top-10 finishes, including the first individual win of his collegiate career at the Flyer Invitational in October. In the victory, the Arlington Heights, Illinois native posted the team's lowest tournament score of the season, a 16-under 197, which tied for the second-best mark in program history.
The Fighting Illini now await regional selections for the 2024 NCAA Tournament, set to be announced as part of Golf Channel's College Central coverage on Wednesday, May 1 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. Illinois will compete at a regional for the 16th consecutive season and the 19th time under Small's guidance.
The 2024 NCAA Regionals are slated for May 13-15 at six sites: Birck Boilermaker Golf Course (West Lafayette, Ind.; host: Purdue), The Farms Golf Club (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; host: San Diego), Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.; host: Stanford), UNC Finley Golf Course (Chapel Hill, N.C.; host: North Carolina), University Club (Baton Rouge, La.; host: LSU), and The University of Texas Golf Club (Austin, Texas; host: Texas).
2024 BIG TEN MEN'S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE AND INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
- Big Ten Golfer of the Year: Herman Sekne, Purdue
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year: MAX HERENDEEN, Illinois
- Big Ten Coach of the Year: DAVID INGLIS, Northwestern
ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS
First Team
- JACKSON BUCHANAN, Illinois
- MAX HERENDEEN, Illinois
- Hunter Thomson, Michigan
- DANIEL SVÄRD, Northwestern
- Ethan Tseng, Northwestern
- NEAL SHIPLEY, Ohio State
- HERMAN SEKNE, Purdue
- CAMERON HUSS, Wisconsin
Second Team
- Ryan Voois, Illinois
- Drew Salyers, Indiana
- Ashton McCulloch, Michigan State
- Ben Warian, Minnesota
- Cameron Adam, Northwestern
- James Imai, Northwestern
- Maxwell Moldovan, Ohio State
- Nels Surtani, Purdue
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
- Timmy Crawford, Illinois
- Noah Gillard, Indiana
- Ian Meyer, Iowa
- Armand Papaziani, Maryland
- Jack O'Donnell, Michigan
- Brad Smithson, Michigan State
- Jacob Pedersen, Minnesota
- Hamish Murray, Nebraska
- James Imai, Northwestern
- Jacob Tarkany, Ohio State
- Jake Griffin, Penn State
- Peyton Snoeberger, Purdue
- Xavier Marcoux, Rutgers
- Blake Wisdom, Wisconsin
