Bilicic Represents Nebraska as Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree

Earning his first Big Ten Conference award, graduate student Henry Bilicic was named a Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree, the Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday. 

"He’s been a leader for our team both on and off the court the past two years, head coach Peter Kobelt said. "While one of our team values is being a good sport, win or lose, I believe a lot of it stems from Henry. He’s done so much for the program that no one sees. Always willing to go the extra mile for the guys, the program and the community. No one deserves this award more than him."

Bilicic, a San Diego native, is in his final season with the Huskers and collegiate career as he has accumlated around 43 singles wins and 39 doubles wins throughout college. Before coming to Nebraska, he played three seasons at Trinity. 

Over the course of his career Bilicic has excelled academically earning a multitude of awards including ITA Scholar-Athlete (2024), Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2025), Academic All-Big Ten (2025) and being named to the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2023, 2024, 2025; Spring 2024, 2025). Bilicic was also part of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2024, 2025) in both his redshirt and senior seasons. 

After helping Nebraska to a 12-13 record and four ranked wins so far on the season including an upset win over No. 39 Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament, Bilicic and the Huskers take on Ohio State on Thursday, April 23 at 5 p.m. (CT) in Ojai, Calif. 

Big Ten Postseason Awards

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Max Dahlin, R-Fr., Michigan

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Max Dahlin, R-Fr., Michigan

COACH OF THE YEAR
Harry Jadun, Michigan State

ALL-BIG TEN, FIRST TEAM
Gabriel Debru, Fr., Illinois
Kenta Miyoshi, Sr., Illinois +
Max Dahlin, R-Fr., Michigan +
Ozan Baris, Sr., Michigan State
Matthew Forbes, So., Michigan State
Aristotelis Thanos, R-Sr., Michigan State +
Jack Anthrop, Sr., Ohio State
Aidan Kim, Jr., Ohio State +
Rudy Quan, So., UCLA
Emon van Loben Sels, R-Jr., UCLA
Branko Djuric, Fr., USC
Patrik Meszaros, So., Wisconsin

ALL-BIG TEN, SECOND TEAM
Bjorn Swenson, Sr., Michigan
Nikita Filin, So., Ohio State
Preston Stearns, R-Jr., Ohio State
Spencer Johnson, Jr., UCLA
Max Exsted, Fr., USC
Nathan Trouve, So., USC

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Gabriel Debru, Fr., Illinois
Adam Jilly, Fr., Illinois
Max Dahlin, R-Fr., Michigan +
Branko Djuric, Fr., USC
Max Exsted, Fr., USC
Ferdinand Kloesters, R-Fr., Wisconsin

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Adam Jilly, Fr., Illinois
Matteo Antonescu, So., Indiana
Mert Oral, Sr., Michigan
David Saye, Sr., Michigan State
Henry Bilicic, Gr., Nebraska
Ethan Schiffman, Jr., Northwestern
JP Day, R-So., Ohio State
Russell Soohoo, Sr., Oregon
Michael Wright, Sr., Penn State
Henrik Villanger, Jr., Purdue
Emon van Loben Sels, R-Jr., UCLA
Nathan Trouve, So., USC
Rohan Belday, So., Washington
Michael Minasyan, Sr., Wisconsin

+ unanimous selections