NiJaree Canady and Travis Hunter Named Big 12 Athletes of the Year

IRVING, TX — Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady and Colorado’s Travis Hunter have been named the 2024-25 Big 12 Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, the conference announced Thursday. Both are the first student-athletes from their universities to receive the league’s highest individual honor.

Each of the Big 12’s 16 full-member institutions nominated one male and one female student-athlete who competed during the 2024-25 academic year. Nominees were required to be in good academic standing and participate in a conference-sponsored sport. The winners were selected by a 16-member media panel, with one representative from each institution.

Canady, a junior pitcher and utility player, led Texas Tech softball to its first appearance in the Women’s College World Series finals. She was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team and was instrumental in helping the Red Raiders capture their first Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships.

The Topeka, Kansas native earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors and was a First Team All-Big 12 selection. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship and received the Honda Sport Award for softball. Canady earned multiple First Team All-America honors from the NFCA, D1Softball, and Softball America, and was a top-three finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year. Academically, she was named the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team Member of the Year and earned Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition.

Canady is the first Texas Tech student-athlete and the eighth softball player overall to win the Big 12 Athlete of the Year award. She is also the first softball honoree since 2022.

Hunter, a junior from Colorado, produced one of the most decorated seasons in college football history. The Heisman Trophy winner and consensus National Player of the Year became the first football player from Colorado to earn the Big 12's top athletic honor.

He was named the 2025 Bob Bowlsby Award recipient and earned several national accolades, including the Bednarik Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Paul Hornung Award (repeat winner), and the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver. He also appeared on the cover of EA Sports College Football 25.

A psychology major, Hunter was selected No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft and is on track to graduate in December. He is the 18th football player and seventh Heisman winner to be named Big 12 Athlete of the Year.

2024-25 Big 12 Athlete of the Year Nominees

• Arizona – Colton Smith and Devyn Netz

• Arizona State – Cam Skattebo and Kenzie Brown

• Baylor – Nathaniel Ezekiel and Alexis Brown

• BYU – James Corrigan and Lexy Halladay-Lowry

• UCF – RJ Harvey and Hannah Lovejoy

• Cincinnati – Kerrington Cross and Joleigh Crye

• Colorado – Travis Hunter and Jordan Nytes

• Houston – J’Wan Roberts and KeAyla Dove

• Iowa State – Jaylin Noel and Rachel Joseph

• Kansas – Devin Neal and Camryn Turner

• Kansas State – Brendan Mott and Carla Bernat

• Oklahoma State – Wyatt Hendrickson and Emma Robbins

• TCU – Lui Maxted and Hailey Van Lith

• Texas Tech – JT Toppin and NiJaree Canady

• Utah – Spencer Fano and Grace McCallum

• West Virginia – Wyatt Milum and Ceili McCabe