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Iowa’s Clark, Purdue’s Edey Named Big Ten Athletes of the Year
ROSEMONT, Ill. (June 29, 2023) – Purdue University junior basketball center Zach Edey has been selected as the 2022-23 Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, and University of Iowa junior basketball guard Caitlin Clark has been recognized as the 2022-23 Big Ten Conference Female Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Thursday.
Edey is the third Boilermaker student-athlete to earn Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year honors and the first since diver David Boudia in 2011. The only other Purdue recipient of the men’s award was another basketball great, Glenn Robinson, in 1994.
Edey is also eighth basketball student-athlete chosen as Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year and the first since Iowa’s Luka Garza in 2021. In addition to Edey, Robinson and Garza, the other basketball recipients of the Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year have been Indiana’s Steve Alford (1987), Michigan’s Glen Rice (1989), Ohio State’s Evan Turner (2010), and Michigan State’s Draymond Green (2012) and Denzel Valentine (2016).
Edey, a 7-4 center from Toronto, enjoyed one of the most-statistically dominating seasons in college basketball history, averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He was named the National Player of the Year by all six major organizations and was recently named a finalist for the Best Male College Athlete ESPY award. He became the first player in NCAA history to accumulate 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks and 50 assists in a single season and ranked in the NCAA’s top 25 in points, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
On the Big Ten level, Edey was equally as dominant, becoming the first Big Ten player to lead the league in points, rebounds and field goal percentage in almost 60 years. Edey posted eight games of at least 30 points and 10 rebounds (seven against Big Ten opposition), the most for a major-college player in the last 20 years. He swept both Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades after leading the Boilermakers to both titles and a 29-6 overall record. His 438 rebounds during the 2022-23 season were the fourth most in Big Ten history behind only three record-setting seasons (1960-62) from Ohio State great Jerry Lucas.
Clark’s selection represents the third time a Hawkeye has received Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year honors. The other Iowa honorees were field hockey standout Kristy Gleason in 1994 and basketball great Megan Gustafson in 2019.
This marks the ninth time a basketball student-athlete has captured the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year award. Along with the selections of Clark and Gustafson, other basketball recipients have been Purdue’s Joy Holmes (1991), MaChelle Joseph (1992), Stephanie White (1999) and Katie Douglas (2001), Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2004), Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport (2007) and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016).
A 6-0 guard from West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was chosen Monday as the 2023 recipient of the Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). Clark was the first Big Ten Conference women’s basketball player and Iowa student-athlete to receive the Honda Cup in the award’s 47-year history. She was also just the fourth student-athlete from a current Big Ten school to earn the honor and the first since Penn State volleyball standout Megan Hodge was a co-recipient in 2010.
Clark was the unanimous National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022-23 after leading Iowa to its first NCAA national championship game appearance and the first by a Big Ten program since 2005.
During the 2023 NCAA Tournament, she posted the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history and broke the NCAA single-tournament record for most three-point FG made (24) and most points scored (191). This past winter, she was the only player in the nation with 1,000 points, 240 rebounds, 310 assists and 45 steals.
Overall, Clark became the first player in Division I women’s basketball history to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season and was the fastest Division I player (men’s or women’s) to reach 1,500 career points over the last 20 seasons.
Off the court, she is a two-time first-team Academic All-American and was named the 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American of the Year.
Edey and Clark were among a high-powered field of 28 nominees (one male and one female per Big Ten school) that included seven national champions, 27 All-Americans, 14 conference champions, 10 conference Players of the Year and six standouts who collected at least one national player of the year accolade.
The Big Ten Conference has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 and first honored a Female Athlete of the Year in 1983. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.
The complete list of 2022-23 Athlete of the Year nominations, as well as the list of all-time winners for each award, can be found below.
2022-23 BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
BIG TEN JESSE OWENS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1982 - Jim Spivey, Indiana, cross country/track & field
1983 - Ed Banach, Iowa, wrestling
1984 - Sunder Nix, Indiana, track & field
1985 - Barry Davis, Iowa, wrestling
1986 - Chuck Long, Iowa, football
1987 - Steve Alford, Indiana, basketball
1988 - Jim Abbott, Michigan, baseball
1989 - Glen Rice, Michigan, basketball
1990 - Anthony Thompson, Indiana, football
1991 - Mike Barrowman, Michigan, swimming
1992 - Desmond Howard, Michigan, football
1993 - John Roethlisberger, Minnesota, gymnastics
1994 - Glenn Robinson, Purdue, basketball
1995 - Tom Dolan, Michigan, swimming
1996 - Eddie George, Ohio State, football
1997 - Blaine Wilson, Ohio State, gymnastics
1998 - Charles Woodson, Michigan, football
1999 - Luke Donald, Northwestern, golf
2000 - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, football
2001 - Ryan Miller, Michigan State, ice hockey
2002 - Jordan Leopold, Minnesota, ice hockey
2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois, tennis/Matt Lackey, Illinois, wrestling
2004 - Damion Hahn, Minnesota, wrestling
2005 - Luis Vargas, Penn State, gymnastics
2006 - Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, swimming
2007 - Cole Konrad, Minnesota, wrestling
2008 - Brent Metcalf, Iowa, wrestling
2009 - Jake Herbert, Northwestern, wrestling
2010 - Evan Turner, Ohio State, basketball
2011 - David Boudia, Purdue, diving
2012 - Draymond Green, Michigan State, basketball
2013 - Derek Drouin, Indiana, track & field
2014 - David Taylor, Penn State, wrestling
2015 - Logan Stieber, Ohio State, wrestling
2016 - Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, basketball
2017 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling
2018 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling
2019 - Bo Nickal, Penn State, wrestling
2020 - Chase Young, Ohio State, football
2021 - Luka Garza, Iowa, basketball
2022 - Gable Steveson, Minnesota, wrestling
2023 - Zach Edey, Purdue, basketball
BIG TEN FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1983 - Judi Brown, Michigan State, track & field
1984 - Lisa Ishikawa, Northwestern, softball
1985 - Cathy Branta, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1986 - Stephanie Herbst, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1987 - Jennifer Averill, Northwestern, field hockey/lacrosse
1988 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1989 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1990 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1991 - Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse, Michigan State, diving/Joy Holmes, Purdue, basketball
1992 - MaChelle Joseph, Purdue, basketball
1993 - Lara Hooiveld, Michigan, swimming
1994 - Kristy Gleason, Iowa, field hockey
1995 - Laura Davis, Ohio State, volleyball
1996 - Olga Kalinovskaya, Penn State, fencing
1997 - Kathy Butler, Wisconsin, track & field/Gretchen Hegener, Minnesota, swimming
1998 - Sara Griffin, Michigan, softball
1999 - Stephanie White-McCarty, Purdue, basketball
2000 - Lauren Cacciamani, Penn State, volleyball
2001 - Katie Douglas, Purdue, basketball
2002 - Christie Welsh, Penn State, soccer
2003 - Perdita Felicien, Illinois, track & field
2004 - Kelly Mazzante, Penn State, basketball
2005 - Jennie Ritter, Michigan, softball
2006 - Tiffany Weimer, Penn State, soccer
2007 - Jessica Davenport, Ohio State, basketball
2008 - Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern, lacrosse
2009 - Maria Hernandez, Purdue, golf
2010 - Megan Hodge, Penn State, volleyball
2011 - Shannon Smith, Northwestern, lacrosse
2012 - Christina Manning, Ohio State, track & field
2013 - Amanda Kessel, Minnesota, ice hockey?
2014 - Dani Bunch, Purdue, track & field
2015 - Taylor Cummings, Maryland, lacrosse
2016 - Rachel Banham, Minnesota, basketball?
2017 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming
2018 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming
2019 - Megan Gustafson, Iowa, basketball
2020 - Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball
2021 - Sarah Bacon, Minnesota, diving
2022 - Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball
2023 - Caitlin Clark, Iowa, basketball
The Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.
Edey is the third Boilermaker student-athlete to earn Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year honors and the first since diver David Boudia in 2011. The only other Purdue recipient of the men’s award was another basketball great, Glenn Robinson, in 1994.
Edey is also eighth basketball student-athlete chosen as Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year and the first since Iowa’s Luka Garza in 2021. In addition to Edey, Robinson and Garza, the other basketball recipients of the Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year have been Indiana’s Steve Alford (1987), Michigan’s Glen Rice (1989), Ohio State’s Evan Turner (2010), and Michigan State’s Draymond Green (2012) and Denzel Valentine (2016).
Edey, a 7-4 center from Toronto, enjoyed one of the most-statistically dominating seasons in college basketball history, averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He was named the National Player of the Year by all six major organizations and was recently named a finalist for the Best Male College Athlete ESPY award. He became the first player in NCAA history to accumulate 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks and 50 assists in a single season and ranked in the NCAA’s top 25 in points, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
On the Big Ten level, Edey was equally as dominant, becoming the first Big Ten player to lead the league in points, rebounds and field goal percentage in almost 60 years. Edey posted eight games of at least 30 points and 10 rebounds (seven against Big Ten opposition), the most for a major-college player in the last 20 years. He swept both Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades after leading the Boilermakers to both titles and a 29-6 overall record. His 438 rebounds during the 2022-23 season were the fourth most in Big Ten history behind only three record-setting seasons (1960-62) from Ohio State great Jerry Lucas.
Clark’s selection represents the third time a Hawkeye has received Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year honors. The other Iowa honorees were field hockey standout Kristy Gleason in 1994 and basketball great Megan Gustafson in 2019.
This marks the ninth time a basketball student-athlete has captured the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year award. Along with the selections of Clark and Gustafson, other basketball recipients have been Purdue’s Joy Holmes (1991), MaChelle Joseph (1992), Stephanie White (1999) and Katie Douglas (2001), Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2004), Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport (2007) and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016).
A 6-0 guard from West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was chosen Monday as the 2023 recipient of the Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). Clark was the first Big Ten Conference women’s basketball player and Iowa student-athlete to receive the Honda Cup in the award’s 47-year history. She was also just the fourth student-athlete from a current Big Ten school to earn the honor and the first since Penn State volleyball standout Megan Hodge was a co-recipient in 2010.
Clark was the unanimous National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022-23 after leading Iowa to its first NCAA national championship game appearance and the first by a Big Ten program since 2005.
During the 2023 NCAA Tournament, she posted the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history and broke the NCAA single-tournament record for most three-point FG made (24) and most points scored (191). This past winter, she was the only player in the nation with 1,000 points, 240 rebounds, 310 assists and 45 steals.
Overall, Clark became the first player in Division I women’s basketball history to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season and was the fastest Division I player (men’s or women’s) to reach 1,500 career points over the last 20 seasons.
Off the court, she is a two-time first-team Academic All-American and was named the 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American of the Year.
Edey and Clark were among a high-powered field of 28 nominees (one male and one female per Big Ten school) that included seven national champions, 27 All-Americans, 14 conference champions, 10 conference Players of the Year and six standouts who collected at least one national player of the year accolade.
The Big Ten Conference has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 and first honored a Female Athlete of the Year in 1983. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.
The complete list of 2022-23 Athlete of the Year nominations, as well as the list of all-time winners for each award, can be found below.
2022-23 BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
| SCHOOL | MALE NOMINEE | FEMALE NOMINEE |
| Illinois | Devon Witherspoon, football | Olivia Howell, cross country/track & field |
| Indiana | Trayce Jackson-Davis, basketball | Mackenzie Holmes, basketball |
| Iowa | Jack Campbell, football | Caitlin Clark, basketball |
| Maryland | Nick Lorusso, baseball | Diamond Miller, basketball |
| Michigan | Mason Parris, wrestling | Sierra Brooks, gymnastics |
| Michigan State | Heath Baldwin, track & field | Lauren Kozal, soccer |
| Minnesota | Max McHugh, swimming & diving | Taylor Heise, ice hockey |
| Nebraska | Mikey Labriola, wrestling | Axelina Johansson, track & field |
| Northwestern | Boo Buie, basketball | Izzy Scane, lacrosse |
| Ohio State | James Trotter, tennis | Sophie Jaques, ice hockey |
| Penn State | Carter Starocci, wrestling | Sophia Gladieux, field hockey |
| Purdue | Zach Edey, basketball | Eva Hudson, volleyball |
| Rutgers | Adam Korsak, football | Chloe Timberg, track & field |
| Wisconsin | Jackson Sharp, cross country/track & field | Phoebe Bacon, swimming & diving |
BIG TEN JESSE OWENS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1982 - Jim Spivey, Indiana, cross country/track & field
1983 - Ed Banach, Iowa, wrestling
1984 - Sunder Nix, Indiana, track & field
1985 - Barry Davis, Iowa, wrestling
1986 - Chuck Long, Iowa, football
1987 - Steve Alford, Indiana, basketball
1988 - Jim Abbott, Michigan, baseball
1989 - Glen Rice, Michigan, basketball
1990 - Anthony Thompson, Indiana, football
1991 - Mike Barrowman, Michigan, swimming
1992 - Desmond Howard, Michigan, football
1993 - John Roethlisberger, Minnesota, gymnastics
1994 - Glenn Robinson, Purdue, basketball
1995 - Tom Dolan, Michigan, swimming
1996 - Eddie George, Ohio State, football
1997 - Blaine Wilson, Ohio State, gymnastics
1998 - Charles Woodson, Michigan, football
1999 - Luke Donald, Northwestern, golf
2000 - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, football
2001 - Ryan Miller, Michigan State, ice hockey
2002 - Jordan Leopold, Minnesota, ice hockey
2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois, tennis/Matt Lackey, Illinois, wrestling
2004 - Damion Hahn, Minnesota, wrestling
2005 - Luis Vargas, Penn State, gymnastics
2006 - Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, swimming
2007 - Cole Konrad, Minnesota, wrestling
2008 - Brent Metcalf, Iowa, wrestling
2009 - Jake Herbert, Northwestern, wrestling
2010 - Evan Turner, Ohio State, basketball
2011 - David Boudia, Purdue, diving
2012 - Draymond Green, Michigan State, basketball
2013 - Derek Drouin, Indiana, track & field
2014 - David Taylor, Penn State, wrestling
2015 - Logan Stieber, Ohio State, wrestling
2016 - Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, basketball
2017 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling
2018 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling
2019 - Bo Nickal, Penn State, wrestling
2020 - Chase Young, Ohio State, football
2021 - Luka Garza, Iowa, basketball
2022 - Gable Steveson, Minnesota, wrestling
2023 - Zach Edey, Purdue, basketball
BIG TEN FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1983 - Judi Brown, Michigan State, track & field
1984 - Lisa Ishikawa, Northwestern, softball
1985 - Cathy Branta, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1986 - Stephanie Herbst, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1987 - Jennifer Averill, Northwestern, field hockey/lacrosse
1988 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1989 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1990 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, cross country/track & field
1991 - Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse, Michigan State, diving/Joy Holmes, Purdue, basketball
1992 - MaChelle Joseph, Purdue, basketball
1993 - Lara Hooiveld, Michigan, swimming
1994 - Kristy Gleason, Iowa, field hockey
1995 - Laura Davis, Ohio State, volleyball
1996 - Olga Kalinovskaya, Penn State, fencing
1997 - Kathy Butler, Wisconsin, track & field/Gretchen Hegener, Minnesota, swimming
1998 - Sara Griffin, Michigan, softball
1999 - Stephanie White-McCarty, Purdue, basketball
2000 - Lauren Cacciamani, Penn State, volleyball
2001 - Katie Douglas, Purdue, basketball
2002 - Christie Welsh, Penn State, soccer
2003 - Perdita Felicien, Illinois, track & field
2004 - Kelly Mazzante, Penn State, basketball
2005 - Jennie Ritter, Michigan, softball
2006 - Tiffany Weimer, Penn State, soccer
2007 - Jessica Davenport, Ohio State, basketball
2008 - Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern, lacrosse
2009 - Maria Hernandez, Purdue, golf
2010 - Megan Hodge, Penn State, volleyball
2011 - Shannon Smith, Northwestern, lacrosse
2012 - Christina Manning, Ohio State, track & field
2013 - Amanda Kessel, Minnesota, ice hockey?
2014 - Dani Bunch, Purdue, track & field
2015 - Taylor Cummings, Maryland, lacrosse
2016 - Rachel Banham, Minnesota, basketball?
2017 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming
2018 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming
2019 - Megan Gustafson, Iowa, basketball
2020 - Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball
2021 - Sarah Bacon, Minnesota, diving
2022 - Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball
2023 - Caitlin Clark, Iowa, basketball
The Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.