Penn State’s Starocci, USC’s Watkins Named Big Ten Athletes of the Year

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Penn State University wrestler Carter Starocci has been selected as the 2024-25 Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, and University of Southern California basketball guard JuJu Watkins has been recognized as the 2024-25 Big Ten Conference Female Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Thursday.

Starocci is the fourth Nittany Lion student-athlete to earn Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year honors, joining gymnast Luis Vargas in 2005 and fellow wrestlers David Taylor and Bo Nickal in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

Starocci is also the 14^th wrestling student-athlete chosen as Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, dating back to Iowa’s Ed Banach in 1983, and the first since Minnesota’s Gable Stevenson in 2022. Since 1983, wrestling student-athletes from four schools, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Penn State, have been recipients of the Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year award.

Watkins becomes the first Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year award winner and the 11^th basketball student-athlete to capture the honor

Other basketball recipients have included 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), Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016), and Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (2019) and Caitlin Clark (2023, 2024).

Starocci capped his incredible career with an unprecedented fifth NCAA championship, the first and only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to become a five-time NCAA National Champion. The Erie, Pa. native’s championship victory closed a career that saw him go 25-0 in NCAA Tournament matches.

Starocci collected his third Big Ten title in 2025 after posting an unblemished 26-0 record, including 15-0 record in dual meets. A three-time All-Big Ten First Team performer, Starocci dominated his opponents, surrendering just 41 points in his 26 matches and claiming 10 victories by technical fall.

Starocci was also named the 2025 NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler, the 2025 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, and a Hodge Trophy finalist while leading the Nittany Lions to the 2025 NCAA title, the program’s fourth consecutive championship.

Watkins was named the consensus National Player of the Year in 2024-25 after collecting six National Player of the Year honors. Watkins became the first USC player to receive the John R. Wooden Award and joined Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie to become the program’s third Naismith Trophy Award winner.

In 33 games last season, Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks per contest, while leading the Trojans to a 31-5 overall record, including 16-1 in the Big Ten and a berth in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The sophomore from Los Angeles ranked third in the country in points per game and fourth in total points, while listing second in free throws made, free throws attempts, and field goals attempted.  

The Big Ten Player of the Year, Watkins averaged 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range against top-10 opponents and became the first basketball player at the Division I collegiate, WNBA and NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a single game in leading USC to its win over then-No. 1 UCLA on Feb. 13. 

Watkins also was named one of four finalists for the Honda Sport Award for women’s basketball by The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) — her second selection as a finalist for the Honda Award — and was one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy.

Starocci and Watkins were among a high-powered field of 36 nominees (one male and one female per Big Ten school) that included 12 national champions, 32 All-Americans, 18 conference champions, 12 conference Players of the Year and eight 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 2024-25 Athlete of the Year nominations, as well as the list of all-time winners for each award, can be found below. 

2024-25 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
2024 – Zach Edey, Purdue, basketball
2025 – Carter Starocci, Penn State, wrestling

 
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
2024 – Caitlin Clark, Iowa, basketball
2025 – JuJu Watkins, USC, basketball