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2014 FIBA World Cup: Results & Stats For The Big Ten

Take a look at how the Big Ten played in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

By Thomas Beindit
Tom Pennington

The 2014 FIBA World Cup still has a championship game left (GO USA!!!), but the Big Ten's participation in the event officially concluded in the Round of 16 when New Zealand and Senegal were eliminated from the competition.  Despite this unfortunate result, the Big Ten still had a good performance and had a total of 4 players compete.

Though you may not expect it, Nebraska was the most represented Big Ten school in this year's FIBA World Cup with a total of 2 players competing.  Along with this, Rutgers and Wisconsin both had a player participate as well.  Perhaps the most significant of these 4 players was current Nebraska player Tai Webster.  To be able to compete in an international competition like this as a college player is very impressive and great news for Cornhusker fans hoping for a boost in Webster's game next season.  Being able to compete at this level is huge.

With that, let's look at how the Big Ten performed statistically in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Big Ten Results & Stats In The 2014 FIBA World Cup

New Zealand
  • Kirk Penney - Wisconsin
    • 28.0 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.2 bpg, 0.3 spg
  • Tai Webster - Nebraska
    • 22.0 mpg, 5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.5 bpg, 0.8 spg
Puerto Rico
  • Jorge Diaz - Nebraska
    • 9.0 mpg, 1.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.2 spg
Senegal
  • Hamady N'Diaye - Rutgers
    • 17 mpg, 5.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 0.3 apg, 1.8 bpg, 0.5 spg

Thoughts

None of the Big Ten's participants in this year's FIBA World Cup were dominant by any means, but a few did have solid performances.  Penney and N'Diaye both played good minutes and both made some pretty solid contributions.  Penney may have been the best Big Ten player in total contributions.

The player everyone was keeping an eye on was Webster as he will be competing in next year's Big Ten.  He didn't light up any scoreboards, but considering the level of competition, he performed at or above what you would have expected from him going into this tournament.  Considering that, it's hard not to view this as a success for Webster and even the Nebraska program.  Every year, college players go and play in summer tournaments, but to play in the FIBA World Cup is very impressive and to look decent while doing it is even more impressive.

The full ramifications of this tournament won't be felt for years, but the Big Ten certainly had a respectable performance and as the conference continues to turn out more pro talent, the conference's performance should only get better in the future.

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