James Palmer Jr. has been playing as well as anyone in the Big Ten Conference over the past six games, and the national buzz he’s generated as a result has grown louder by the day.

The 6-foot-6 junior has been on an absolute tear since being benched for the majority of the second half and overtime in Nebraska’s loss at Penn State on Jan. 12.

In the six games since, the former Miami transfer has averaged 25.1 points along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in a whopping 36.2 minutes per contest.

As could be expected, conversation has picked up significantly about Palmer’s chances for All-Big Ten accolades, including potential first-team all-league honors and even entering the conference’s Player of the Year race.

Taking that a step further, questions regarding what Palmer’s future holds after this season have been coming up more and more frequently.

If presented with the opportunity, would he consider forgoing his senior year in Lincoln and jump to the NBA?

At this point, that’s the furthest thing from Palmer’s mind.

“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “I’m just keeping a clear head until the end of the season.”

While the thought of what lies in store after his junior season may not be much of a concern right now, Palmer is not immune to all of the chatter regarding his recent hot streak.

Big Ten Network broadcasts glow over the Upper Marlboro, Md., native every time the Huskers take the court, and that has carried on to the national stage as well.

CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein featured Palmer earlier this week as a player “emerging as the best off-guard in the Big Ten.”

“There’s no way that Tim Miles’ club is in the NCAA Tournament discussion without this guy, who is in line to be a first-team all-conference player if he keeps playing at his current level,” Rothstein wrote.

Palmer appreciates the praise, but that’s about as far as he consumes it.

He doesn’t use social media - aside from his Instagram account - and he’s the last person scouring the internet for stories and mentions about himself.

“I really try not to pay attention to it,” Palmer said. “Of course you’re going to hear it because there’s so many people talking about it, but I try not to pay attention and just focus on leading my team to wins. That’s all I try to do…

“I don’t really see a lot of things that people be Tweeting or what people say or something on Google or whatever. I don’t pay attention to none of that. I just try to be locked in each and every game and come out every night and put on a good performance.”

Looking at the current NBA mock drafts, Palmer’s name has yet to come up as a legitimate 2018 prospect. But that could certainly change if he’s able to keep up his torrid run through the rest of the year, and more importantly, into the NCAA Tournament.

Not only is Palmer scoring in bunches - posting seven 20-point games this year, including two straight 28-point efforts - he’s doing it at an impressively efficient clip.

Since the start of his hot streak in a home win over Illinois on Jan. 15, Palmer has shot 50.5 percent from the field and 80.7 percent from the free throw line.

He’s shooting 74.4 percent from the charity stripe on the season, and his 168 attempts are not only 88 more than any other Husker, they’re the most in the Big Ten and rank 12th nationally.

On the season, Palmer now ranks fifth in the Big Ten at 17.6 points per game, and his 440 total points trail only Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop (471), the assumed front runner for the league’s Player of the Year.

Palmer also has been involved in a team-high 28.6 percent of Nebraska’s offensive possessions this year while attempting 28.0 percent of the shots - all while making 45 percent from the field.

“First of all, I believed James had this kind of talent,” NU head coach Tim Miles said. “Now, did I believe he was going to be this consistent? Did I think he was going to be able to do it day after day like he has?

"I didn’t know. But he’s shown the focus. When James shows up and plays hard and focused, he always plays great.”

Miles has been through a situation similar to this before.

Following Nebraska’s memorable run to the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14, junior guard Terran Petteway faced the decision of whether to make an early jump to the NBA.

Petteway, who was named first-team All-Big Ten that year, had been listed in some mock drafts as a possible second-round pick if he were to declare.

Miles remembers the talks he had with Petteway during that process, and just like he did then, Miles said he would give Palmer honest advice when the time came.

But Miles has no intention of even approaching the subject until after the season comes to a close.

“I certainly want the best for all of our guys, and if I think the best thing is (to leave) or they’re adamant, you really can’t stop them,” Miles said. “At the same time, I will recommend what I think is in their best interest. Right now, James’ best interest is - you know, he’s been on a great run, and he needs to stay on it…

“I think James is only going to continue to grow and develop into a better and better and better player as time goes on this year and next year.”

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What Palmer has allowed himself to focus on is continuing to lead Nebraska on its charge to the NCAA Tournament, something the program has only accomplished one time since 1998.

He’s also willing to think about the individual accolades that could come along with that.

“You always want to strive to be the best, and obviously those accolades come with that,” Palmer said. “Before the season you sit down with yourself and you try to think about what you want to get out of the season, what your goals are. Those are definitely some of my goals.”

A player who averaged 11.5 minutes, 3.5 points, and 1.2 rebounds in 34 games off the bench as a sophomore at Miami before transferring to NU, Palmer may seem like the quintessential surprise story.

But this is a former four-star top-100 recruit who was targeted by some of the top programs in college basketball coming out of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.

His massive leap this season may not have been expected by some, but it was something Palmer knew he was capable of all along.

“To be honest, it’s not like, ‘Oh, he just got good over one year,’” Palmer said. “I’ve been good, but this summer I just stepped it up some more because I knew I had to. The work is showing. It’s finally showing…

“When I came to Nebraska, I knew I had to take advantage of my opportunity, and Coach Miles let me do that.”