TheESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Men's Sports, known before 2021 as theBest Male College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world ofcollegiate sports.[2] It was first presented as part of theESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of theBest College Football Player andBest Male College Basketball Player ESPY Awards, each of which had been presented annually between 1993 and 2001, inclusive.[3] The award trophy, designed by sculptorLawrence Nowlan,[4] is awarded to the sportsman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).[2]
From 2004 until its subsumption with theBest Female College Athlete ESPY Award to create the Best College Athlete ESPY Award for the2018 ceremony,[5] and again since the award was reestablished in 2021, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.[6][7] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[8] Through the2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.[a][9]
The inaugural winner of the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award in 2002 wasIowa State Cyclones wrestlerCael Sanderson who ended his collegiate career that year.[10] In that period, he surpassed numerous NCAA records, clinched four NCAA wrestling championships, and went 159–0 undefeated in his final season.[11]Florida Gators quarterbackTim Tebow received the trophy in 2008, and won it again the following year, becoming the only sportsman in the history of the award to have won it more than once.[12] American football players have been the most successful at the awards with 12 wins. The most recent winner of the award isLSU Tigers quarterbackJayden Daniels.[13]
Beginning in 2021, the awards were again separated into men's and women's versions using the current naming scheme.[14]
^Because of therescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance betwixt February 2001 and June 2002.
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