Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady have been named the 2024-25 Big 12 Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively. Both are the first honorees from their universities to receive the prestigious award.

Each Big 12 institution nominated one male and one female athlete of any classification who competed for their institution during the 2024-25 school year. Nominees were required to be in good academic standing and must have participated in a league-sponsored sport.

The award was open to student-athletes from all 16 full-member institutions that competed during the academic year. The winners were selected by a 16-member media panel, with each school represented by one voter

Canady led Texas Tech to its first appearance in the Women’s College World Series finals and was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team. The junior right-hander earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors and was an All-Big 12 First Team selection while guiding the Red Raiders to their first regular season and postseason Conference titles.

The two-way player was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship and won the Honda Sport Award for softball. Canady was also a top three finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year and earned multiple First Team All-America honors, including recognition from the NFCA, D1Softball and Softball America. She was named the College Sports Communicators All-America® Team Member of the Year and earned a spot on the Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Team.

Canady is the eighth overall softball player and the first to win the Big 12 Athlete of the Year honor since 2022.

Hunter produced one of the decorated seasons in college football history, earning consensus National Player of the Year honors and becoming Colorado’s second Heisman Trophy winner.

The cover star of EA Sports College Football 25 was named a recipient of the 2025 Bob Bowlsby Award, the Big 12’s highest individual honor, recognizing student-athletes who exemplify excellence and leadership on and off the field. Hunter was also recognized as the National Defensive Player of the Year (Bednarik, Lott IMPACT Trophy), became the first repeat winner of the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) and won the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football.

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

The full list of nominees for each school can be found below.

2024-25 Big 12 Athletes 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
K-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

Bold indicates winner