PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The preseason accolades keep on coming for Rutgers men's basketball's senior small forward Ron Harper Jr.

A week after being nominated to the watch list as candidate for the 2021-22 Julius Irving Award given to the best small forward in the nation, Harper Jr. has been named to the Big Ten's Preseason All-Conference team.

Harper Jr., the 6-foot-6 senior forward from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey has continued to set the bar higher and higher each season for the Rutgers men's basketball team.

Harper averaged a career-high 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists on Head Coach Steve Pikiell's 2020-21 team that won the first NCAA tournament game for the university since 1983. Rutgers' season ended in the second round of the tournament in a 63-60 defeat to the Houston Cougars who went on to advance to the Final Four.

"The season didn't end the way we wanted it to last year, but we learned a lot of great things to keep the momentum running," Harper Jr. said at Rutgers local media day last week. "We want to be national champions. We want to be Big Ten champions. We want to go above and beyond what people expect us to do."

Harper Jr. was recognized for his performance in 2020-21 as a member of the Third Team All-Big Ten, the First Team All-Met and the Academic All-Big Ten Team.

The Big Ten Conference's full team is listed below and the starters on the team are listed in capitals. Illinois center Kofi Cockburn was selected as the Big Ten's Preseason Player of the Year.

2021-22 PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM*
KOFI COCKBURN, JR., C, ILLINOIS
Andre Curbelo, So., G, Illinois
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS, JR., F, INDIANA
Keegan Murray, So., F, Iowa
Eric Ayala, Sr., G, Maryland
HUNTER DICKINSON, SO., C, MICHIGAN
Caleb Houstan, Fr., G/F, Michigan
E.J. LIDDELL, JR., F, OHIO STATE
JADEN IVEY, SO., G, PURDUE
Trevion Williams, Sr., F, Purdue
Ron Harper Jr., Sr., G/F, Rutgers
 
2021-22 BIG TEN PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kofi Cockburn, Jr., C, Illinois