He played forward for the 2009–10 Northwestern Wildcats and led the team in scoring and rebounding.
 Following the 2009–10 All-Big Ten Conference regular season, he was named a second-team All-conference selection by both the coaches and the media.
He was twice named Big Ten men's basketball player of the week during the season.
 He was recognized as an All-District second-team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches making him eligible for the State Farm Division I All‐America teams.
 He finished his sophomore season among the Big Ten leaders in many statistical categories: 3rd in scoring, 7th in rebounding, 10th in free throw percentage, 8th in blocked shots, and 6th in minutes played.
He was recognized by Sporting News as the Most Improved Player after raising his scoring average from 7.3 points as a freshman to 18.5 as a sophomore, while improving his rebounding average from 2.6 to 6.4.
During the season, he established new Northwestern Wildcats basketball single-season records in both total points (619), surpassing Evan Eschmeyer, and field goals made (217), surpassing Dale Kelly.
In so doing, he helped Northwestern establish a new school record for single-season wins with 20.
He played forward for the 2009–10 Northwestern Wildcats and led the team in scoring and rebounding.  Following the 2009–10 All-Big Ten Conference regular season, he was named a second-team All-conference selection by both the coaches and the media. He was twice named Big Ten men's basketball player of the week during the season.  He was recognized as an All-District second-team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches making him eligible for the State Farm Division I All‐America teams.  He finished his sophomore season among the Big Ten leaders in many statistical categories: 3rd in scoring, 7th in rebounding, 10th in free throw percentage, 8th in blocked shots, and 6th in minutes played. He was recognized by Sporting News as the Most Improved Player after raising his scoring average from 7.3 points as a freshman to 18.5 as a sophomore, while improving his rebounding average from 2.6 to 6.4. During the season, he established new Northwestern Wildcats basketball single-season records in both total points (619), surpassing Evan Eschmeyer, and field goals made (217), surpassing Dale Kelly. In so doing, he helped Northwestern establish a new school record for single-season wins with 20.
John Shurna